The Lonely Mechanic
by ImpossibleLaughs
Summary: Leo Valdez is and always will be the seventh wheel, but what happens when he thinks no one will miss him when he runs away? Will they look for him? Follow Leo as he retells his life changing journey with action, adventure, and...romance? Leo has changed drastically during his leave, how will his friends react when they finally find him? One more quest to end it all.
1. The Realization

"_You will always be the outsider, the seventh wheel."_

Those words ran through Leo's head constantly. Whether he was fixing the _Argo II_, fighting monsters, hitting on girls, cracking jokes, or lying in his bed; it was always the same thing…playing like a stupid broken record.

"_You will always be the outsider, the seventh wheel."_

Leo had tried to blow it off, thinking the Goddess was just messing with him; he tried putting on his fake smile and made his corny jokes to help him forget. For a while he convinced himself everything was fine, that he was thinking too much.

_Try not to think, it interferes with being nuts. _

_You aren't just nuts, you're bolts, you're screws…you're a pile of tools for them to use then throw away until they need you again. STOP IT. Just stop._

"_You will always be the outsider, the seventh wheel."_

He would pilot the _Argo II _for hours on end and turn to his friends for company, but they had all the company they needed. Percy had Annabeth. Hazel had Frank. Jason had Piper. Even Coach Hedge had his movies and magazines. All Leo had was a dragon head that would creak and whistle at him, not built for small talk.

All he had was his machines.

He finally started to realize that he _was_ the seventh wheel, the odd man out, the lonely "repair boy". He kept up his act of the "funny repair boy" though, he couldn't take the thought of his friends losing hope despite all they had been through; he kept them together without them even acknowledging or interacting with him.

_They are just catching up before we fight Gaea, before we die. Everything will be fine after we stop the war. Then we can hang out. But who wants to catch up with me? Who wants to talk to the mechanic? Who wants to talk to Leo "Seventh Wheel" Valdez?_

He would try to talk to his friends but they blew him off like an annoying gnat, thinking him stupid…until they needed him like a wrench in a dusty tool box.

"_You wouldn't understand Leo."_

"_Now's not the time for jokes Valdez."_

"_Can't talk now, busy working on some plans."_

"_Maybe later repair boy."_

"_See if so and so wants to hang out with you."_

"_You will always be the outsider, the seventh wheel."_

All Leo had was his machines, but even they couldn't talk to him.

After the war, things never picked up. Sure, he felt needed by getting them to the Doors of Death; but his need was gone as much as it came. Getting home was easy going, aside from some storms and monsters but Leo kept the group together; not wanting their spirits to dampen after all they had been through. Leo kept up his act of being the funny repair boy; humor was a good way to hide the pain. He was welcomed back to Camp Half-Blood as a hero, they had a feast, they had fun, and they loved Leo…for a while. They just as soon tossed him to the side of the workshop, they all had someone to come back home too; everyone except Leo. Jason had Thalia, Piper had her dad (despite their differences), Annabeth had her family, Percy had the same, Frank had his grandma, and Hazel had Nico. They were all happy to be back with their families and loved ones…

All he had was his machines.

They never truly left Leo; they stayed close to him but just close enough so they could ask for his help when they needed it. Leo always helped. Despite being the seventh wheel, Leo always helped people. He always found time for people around him, but no one found time for him. Even his brothers and sisters were too busy for him, except when they needed help with building.

"_Leo, help us with the automatons."_

"_Leo, help us with Bunker 9."_

"_Leo, help us with Archimedes' work."_

That's all he was, he was a tool in their work belt. He was a prop in the background of everyone's lives; only being noticed when he was needed…and even then….

"_You will always be the outsider, the seventh wheel."_

It had been a few months since the war, Leo sat on the beach with his knees up to his chest and his armed wrapped around them. Nothing had gotten better for Leo. He sat there and stared for hours, wondering what problem he would have to fix next, what machine would break, what relationship he would have to help mend, what project would come up next, what person would put up with Leo for a few hours to get what they wanted. He sat and stared, watching the waves roll across the Earth.

So calm, so peaceful, so sad. It reminded him of how the camp acted now, now that they were in a new age of peace.

So calm, so peaceful, so lonely.

He snapped his fingers and a small flame danced on his grease covered fingers. Casting a small glow in his face, a small light of hope that it would get better; but Leo was smarter than that…he knew it never would. Would they even care if he left? Would they even notice? Would they even look?

He heard a throat clear behind him as he sat and watched the flame. He quickly put on his fake smile, the one he perfected to hide his feelings, closed his hand and let the flame die down. He turned around ready to fix someone's problem, ready to cherish those few moments of someone putting up with the lonely mechanic.

"_You will always be the outsider, the seventh wheel."_

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**(A/N) Thanks for reading "The Lonely Mechanic", I was listening to music and had the sudden urge to write sad Leo. I wrote this as a one shot for Leo but left it a bit open ended so if people want, I can write more (I have a small story planned out) but I liked how I wrote it as my first one shot. And yes, Franks grandma is alive so what? I'll explain it later...but please, please, PLEASE review this so I can know how to improve! It really helps a ton and means a lot! This is my first attempt at "sad" writing, because "I'm forever the optimist..." so tell me how I did! Love ya all! (i get a little excited sometimes, hence the exclamation marks)**


	2. The Decision

"_Don't stay in one place too long. It is the only way to stay ahead of the sadness."_

He snapped his fingers and a small flame danced on his grease covered fingers. Casting a small glow on his face, a small light of hope that life would get better; but Leo was smarter than that…he knew it never would.

_Would they even care if I left? _

_Would they even notice? _

_Would they even look?_

He heard a throat clear behind him as he sat and watched the flame. He quickly put on his fake smile; the one he perfected to hide his feelings, closed his hand and let the flame die down. He turned around to see the last person he expected, the last _Roman_ he expected, wanting to put up with the little repair boy; Reyna.

Leo quickly cleared his mind of his thoughts and put in the template brain he had made which consisted of corny jokes and ways to hide his feelings as he looked at Reyna, the praetor to Camp Jupiter (or the leader of Leo-Blew-Up-Our-Town-And-Now-We-Hate-Him-Even-Thou gh-It-Was-A-Mistake-And-Not-Him as he called it).

"Hey Valdez! We need help with…"Reyna started saying but noticed Leo's look of disappointment on his face and had seen he had the hint of dried tears on his cheek "…are you okay Leo? What are you doing alone out here?"

Leo wiped his face, remembering he had let his emotions take hold for a split second, effectively clearing the tears from his face but smudging grease on his face as well. He recovered from his disappointment, disappointment from him hoping anyone wanted to chill with him, and said something of his usual vocabulary, "Oh ya know, just figuring out how to incorporate some of Archimedes' inventions into my plan for world domination." He said with a false smile on his face, hoping Reyna would just get on with her request and leave him be.

Reyna eyed him with a questioning look but seemed to disregard it and said they needed help with the _Argo III _acting up, some automatons going haywire near the arena and Jason wanting to talk to him about something important.

_I'm just a tool in a tool belt._

Reyna noticed that Leo had been starring at a spot for a long time and she snapped her fingers, sending a loud _crack_ through the air. Leo jumped slightly and looked at Reyna directly in her eyes, wondering what she wanted now with the seventh wheel. His brown eyes stared into her dark brown eyes, both questioning each other silently. Reyna was questioning Leo if anything was wrong with him, while Leo was questioning why Reyna cared so much about a lowly mechanic.

_No one cares._

"Are you sure nothing's wrong Leo? You seem…out of it." She had a concerned look on her face as she put her hand on Leo's shoulder in a comforting way. He didn't know how to react to what was happening, no one had touched Leo since their return, let alone speak to him for more than 10 minutes and Reyna was about to break the record.

_It's because no one cares about you, they just want your skills. We've been over this repair boy. Just think, what would they do when you left? They will find another mechanic; Nyssa is just as good if not better. You are expendable, always have been…and always will be._

"Psh, the only thing I'm out of is witty comebacks. Speaking of, do you know where I can get a can of 'Spray-On-Funny'? I seem to have run out and the Stolls won't let me borrow theirs." He said, smoothly brushing her hand off his shoulder and taking a step back. Wondering if his joke would be enough to push her away, he was curious as to what her breaking point was. Everyone had one with him. He tested it out with everyone, learning which ones he could talk to longer than others; the list consisted of two people.

Reyna eyed him carefully before saying, "If you need anything Valdez, just come find me." She turned around to leave the mechanic on the beach alone…again.

_See? They just want to use you for their tasks again! What are you going to be this time? A screwdriver? A hammer? A drill? Even Reyna didn't care enough about you to hang out. You'll always be the outsider._

"You're right." Leo said quietly to himself, "And you know what tiny voice in my head? I'm tired of it." Leo stated as he started walking to the center of Camp Half-Blood to help with his newly assigned tasks.

Despite making his decision, Leo still tried to be his old self when he was working. While he was fixing some things with the _Argo III_, which his cabin had started construction ever since the previous one was destroyed in the Giant War, he cracked his usual jokes and said his usual puns but to his disappointment, no one paid him any attention other than scolding him. He told himself to stop getting his hopes up that they would ever care but despite feeling alone, Leo was an optimist at heart. Even his own cabin mates just ignored him, he was no longer the "Cool Fire User Guy", and he was now the "Annoying Hyper Little Brother"; which only pushed him farther from his cabin mates. He even tried talking to Annabeth, whom was helping design the new ship with Hephaestus cabin and Athena Cabin, but she just scolded him or sighed when he would just talk to her (no jokes at all). He could live with Annabeth not liking him, though he wanted her to be his friend, he just couldn't bear the thought of losing he two best friends; Jason and Piper.

_Annabeth is probably going through something with Percy, they always fight. Or she just hates me. Maybe she just wants me to leave? Maybe she doesn't even like me, and never did? That's not true! Name a time when she acted like she cared._

"I got nothing." Leo said out loud while working on the new AI for the ship.

"I'm sorry?" Annabeth, whom was next to Leo working on the navigation, asked while scrunching her eyebrows together like she was thinking. Annabeth sat there and stared at the repair boy, wondering what his problem was this time, wondering why he has been acting so weird lately. She disregarded it, having to focus on something much more important at the moment, and continued to look at Leo while she waited for an answer to her question.

"Leo, what'd you say?" She asked again, slightly annoyed at his small attention span but then remembered he had a severe case of ADHD; even by demigod standards.

"Wha? Oh sorry, I just said I have nothing but awesomeness planned for this ship!" Leo recovered from her hearing him, giving up any hope she would even care about his problems. Giving up any hope she would even talk to him about anything besides asking for help. Giving up any hope of ever being accepted.

_You will always be the outsider, the seventh wheel_

The same exact situation happened with Percy, Nico, Frank, and Hazel when he went to lunch with them; which was full of awkward silences.

_They all hate you. They could have gotten to the Doors of Death without you. They used to be scared of you, they used to fear you for your fire. You were supposed to destroy the world. Now look at you. You are weak, a lowly mechanic. Show them your true power; show them the error of their ways._

"No" Leo whispered at the table, "Never.", he slowly got up and walked to the sword arena for his next task.

After fixing the automatons and adding some new features to them (all while staying silent to everyone's surprise), he went to go find Jason whom wanted to talk to him.

_He probably wants to hang out! We haven't hung out since Zeus knows when! Or he just wants something, like everyone else. You'll always be the outcast._

"Hey Fly Boy! What's up? What'd you want to talk to me about?" Leo questioned happily while walking towards his best friend, clapping him on the back when he reached him. "Want to hang out or something? We could go and spar in the arena I fixed or race on the climbing wall!"

"Sorry Leo I can't, but I actually wanted to ask you something." Jason said, putting his hand on Leo's shoulder; ready to convince him to help with his request.

_See? He just wants help with something. No one wants to hang out with you. You're worthless and annoying, they are all strong heroes. What are you? A scrawny repair boy?_

Leo tried to clear his head before telling Jason, his best friend, he would help with what he wanted…again. Jason had wanted for Leo to make a clever box for a ring Jason had gotten for Piper; he was going to propose to her. The lonely mechanic accepted and went to his cabin to begin his final two tasks, to make the ring and to do something else; something more important.

After skipping dinner and spending 5 hours alone, Leo had made a ring box that would have made his dad proud. It was bronze and simple on the outside but on the inside it played a soft song, had a moving picture of Jason and Piper kissing on the bottom of the lid, a stand for the ring to sit in and twirl around while the music played, and it had an inscription on the stand that said, _"Yours forever." _He walked over to his bunk in Cabin 9 and gathered his things in a small suitcase, leaving behind a note, the ring box, a picture, and a wrench.

Leo gathered the suitcase, put on his tool belt, put on a hat with the number "9" on it with flames on the front of it, and proceeded to take a quick walk down memory lane. He walked through camp, remembering the times he spent with his friends and family, remembering the Giant War, building the _Argo II, _playing pranks with Hermes cabin, and falling in love with her. Leo took one last look at Camp Half-Blood as he stood on Half-Blood Hill, saying his final goodbye.

"Goodbye, and I just want you to know…I forgive you." The lonely mechanic whispered with teary eyes as he turned around to face his new life, the one he was forging for himself, the one with a clean slate for him, the one he would build for himself.

"_Don't stay in one place too long. It was the only way to stay ahead of the sadness."_

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**(A/N) Sorry for the late updates, I have been extremely busy with work and school (I may have also been reading some fanfics as well) but have no fear, James is here to save the day! I've been trying to think of a way to go further with this story while trying to keep it good quality (something I never reach as I am a perfectionist). I spent all this time brainstorming and proofreading this chapter and the next chapter in "When Two Worlds Collide". Hopefully you all enjoyed this, if some stuff doesn't make sense then I did my job right. Some stuff has happened over the time between the Giant War and now, it'll be explained later don't worry. I always seem to forget what I wanted to write in these things so I think my drink next to me is from the River Lethe, which is rather annoying. ANYWAYS, please please PLEASE review this and tell me what you think. I want to improve my writing so tell me how I can, also tell me what you liked and any suggestions you have for the story! Next update will be a wait just as long, if not longer, than this update. Mainly because I have to work myself up to the mood of the story (I'm generally a happy person and this is not a all around "happy" story or style of writing), and I try to plan ahead and figure out where I want to go with the chapter. I'll stop my rambling now and let you all get on with your lives! Live long and prosper! **

**P.S. Let me know of any stories like this that you enjoy! I will be happy to read them as they might give me ideas, plus I just love these types of stories (Leo is also amazing in them). Or just share any fan fics you enjoy! I'm still pretty new here but I've read quite a bit already and would love to read more!**


	3. The Discovery

_A scrawny boy walked the streets of a sleeping city, occasionally being passed by a taxi; he was fiddling with something in his hands that looked like a remote as he looked around him nervously. The boy wore a dark hoodie over his head and what looked like a baseball cap with the number '9' on the front; he looked extremely familiar but completely strange at the same time as if he was nervous. He walked into an abandoned factory that read, "Queen Industries", and sat down on a metal workbench, still tinkering with the remote in his hands until he snapped something out of place and threw it at the wall in frustration._

"_Best way to make it is to start over…" He mumbled as he went to the remains of the remote to collect the pieces and started tinkering again. He glanced to his right and perked up a bit, seeing a pile of metal in the corner of the factory beside a drilling machine. He walked over to the pile of scrap and dove right into his newfound treasure, throwing unneeded pieces over his shoulder while putting the valuable ones in his own pile next to him. _

"_Is there a-ah! Here's one! Now I just need a- never mind." He said to himself, smiling at his pile of scrap metal until a crash came from the other end of the factory, as if something fell. The boy quickly turned around to see where the crash came from and saw three large shadows standing over him, one with a long metal object that resembled a pipe and the other two holding both ends of what appeared to be a chain._

"_Well…I-I suppose I'll be going now." The boy shot up and ran towards the office at the other end of the factory; he slammed the door and locked it before the figures could capture him. The boy dragged the desk along the floor to the door, along with filing cabinets, chairs, and a side table while he tried to find another way out of the situation he was in. As he sat and stared at the door, he pulled out some scrap metal and started working on something small that could assist him but was interrupted by pounding on the door._

"_Who is it?" He called out to the other side of the door, still tinkering with what was in his hands._

"_Boy, open this door so we can kill you!" A gruff voice replied as metal could be heard being banged against the door._

"_Boy-open-this-door-so-we-can-kill-you who?" The boy replied as he ran to a window and tried to get it open, the banging continued and just as he opened the window he saw that it had bars on the other side. _

"_Well that sucks." He sighed and said to himself as the door crashed against the opposite wall, falling off its hinges, revealing the three figures walking towards the boy._

"_If you wanted in, you could have just knocked…" The boy said weakly as a metal pipe came crashing on his head. The three figures stood over the unconscious boy, restraining him with the chains they carried while the larger one spoke like nails being dragged across a blackboard._

"_This is the one she mentioned, we shall be greatly rewarded."_

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**THE NIGHT LEO LEFT**

Reyna woke up in a cold sweat in the middle of the night with a gasp for air; she sat up in her bed in Camp Half-Blood trying to remember her dream. She was one of the few demigods that had a terrible time remembering her prophetic dreams, which was frustrating to her in many ways, and only had one thought, _9._ The number nine jumped around her head as she tried to locate a connection.

_September._

_The Muses._

_The fall to Tartarus._

_Pluto, the ninth planet._

_Hades._

_Greek._

_Camp Half-Blood._

_Cabins._

_ 1. Zeus_

_ 2. Hera_

_ 3. Poseidon_

_ 4. Demeter_

_ 5. Ares_

_ 6. Athena_

_ 7. Apollo_

_ 8. Artemis_

_** 9. Hephaestus.**_

_Hephaestus' cabin._

For some unknown reason, Reyna felt the need to go to Hephaestus' Cabin…cabin 9. She felt a strange connection to the place so she quickly got dressed and strapped her sword to her waist. She crept out of the Big House towards the only place she knew where people were still awake early in the morning, Poseidon's Cabin. His cabin had become a secret hangout of sorts to their group of friends late at night, where they would talk and make jokes and just spend time together; even if it was against the rules. She walked up to the low building, admiring the coral and seashells that ran around the walls, and quickly knocked eight times, pausing between each four knocks. One knock for each of them, even though she had not been one of the seven, she was included in their group as she proved important in rallying both of their forces in North America to battle Gaea. After she finished the secret knock, she smirked to herself when she remembered Leo was the one whom came up with the idea.

"_We need a secret code! Like a dance, or a signal, or a knock!" _

"_A dance?" Jason looked a bit nervous; he was never really good at dancing._

"_Or a knock!" Leo said, very excited about being part of a 'secret club' as he called it when it was really just friends wanting to hang out. He was always a little of an eccentric, but that's what made Leo…Leo._

"_Oh! And maybe we can have shirts! And hats! And our own jackets!"_

"_Leo…" Everyone sighed and facepalmed, shaking their head in the process._

She knew something was wrong with Leo the day before; she just couldn't place her finger on it and decided to question him some more today. She never knew him as close as Jason and Piper did but still felt like a friend to him, but he considered _everyone_ his friend in a way. The door swung open and Reyna looked at the person standing in front of her, Jason Grace, her previous crush. Jason looked a bit confused, Reyna never hung out at the cabin very much because she was dealing with Camp Jupiter, and Reyna was also a bit shocked despite getting over Jason fairly quick; she hadn't expected to see him here for some reason even though he was always here. Since the end of the war, Jason had decided to stay at Camp Half-Blood with Piper; handing over his position in Camp Jupiter to someone else.

"H-hey Reyna, come on in." He whispered, gesturing with his hand into the cabin.

"Thanks Jason." Reyna replied shortly, not wanting to talk to Jason any longer than absolutely necessary.

Reyna walked into Poseidon's Cabin to see a small circle of her friends, Annabeth with Percy, Hazel with Frank, and Jason plopping down next to Piper. All of them had bags under their eyes but talked animatedly in their own personal conversations until they noticed Reyna sitting down on a bunk bed.

"Hey Reyna! What's up? We were just talking about some of the pranks the Stolls pulled on Demeter cabin awhile back." Percy said, struggling to hide his chuckles as he remembered the time they spray painted every plant blue and blamed it on Percy due to his obsession with the color.

"I just had a strange dream, I think, and thought it would be nice to clear my mind for a bit." She replied, fidgeting with her hands as she tried to remember the dream she had. Something about it told her someone was in trouble, someone from Hephaestus cabin.

"What was the dream? Maybe we can help." Annabeth asked, her hands interlocked with Percy's as she fiddled with the ring on her finger; their engagement ring.

"I…I can't remember. I never could, all I can think of is the number nine." Reyna said, wondering if her friends thought her weird for not remembering her dreams or thinking her insane for worrying over the number nine. Reyna looked around at her friends until she realized something that had been staring all of them in the face. _Where is Valdez?_

"…it could mean a month, September is the ninth month. Maybe something is supposed to happen then?" Reyna jumped back into the conversation as Frank finished his theory on what the number stood for.

"Already thought about it but one thing is bugging me right now." She said, all of them gesturing for her to finish, "Where is Leo?" She always expected Leo to come to these 'secret meetings' (as he called them) seeing as how enthusiastic he was about it.

"Maybe he's asleep? He hasn't come here in the past few weeks actually." Piper said, wondering where in fact Leo Valdez was.

"When was the last time you guys talked to him?" Reyna questioned, wondering why he wasn't here with his friends.

"I talked to him yesterday about the- thing I wanted him to do." Jason caught himself before he reveled why he talked to Leo.

"I can't remember when I talked to him." Piper admitted, trying to remember if she talked to him the day before or the day before that.

"He ate lunch with us yesterday before Nico left for Camp Jupiter." Percy said as he played with Annabeth's curls.

"We worked on the _Argo III_ yesterday as well." Annabeth said, remembering their weird conversation on the ship.

Jason stood up, wiping imaginary dirt from his pants and said, "Well let's go to his _cabin_ and ask him why he isn't here! I bet we could use some good laughs as well!" As those words left his mouth, realization hit the group like a flying meatball in a food fight.

"Cabin _Nine_." Annabeth said, all of them wondering if that was what Reyna was dreaming about.

"It's a long shot, but let's not worry over it okay? The number nine is pretty common, it could mean anything." Hazel said, hoping to lighten the strange amount of awkwardness in the room.

The friends all silently walked out of the cabin towards cabin nine, hoping not to get caught by the harpies in the process. They weren't surprised at all when the cabin seemed deserted; everyone from there had worked a deal with Chiron where they could work on the _Argo III_ while sleeping on it so they could get it done faster. Percy slowly opened the door to the cabin to see it was clean, by this cabin's standards, but one bed looked untouched; Leo's bed. The closer he got to it he saw that it was as if no one stayed in it at all, the bed was made and there were no signs as if someone slept there in days but what surprised Percy was that there seemed to be small items on the bed as if they were left there intentionally. The group of friends filed in after Percy, the cabin was surprisingly large compared to the other cabins and allowed for more wiggle room. Piper walked past Percy to Leo's bunk and looked at the items on the bed. She looked down at the clean bed to see a small picture held down by a small bronze box, and a wrench. Jason slowly walked up to the bunk bed next to Piper and noticed the ring box and quickly pocketed it and then he picked up the wrench and picture in his hands as he examined them.

The wrench was old and rusty, worn from use, and had some grease on it while the picture was folded in half. Jason opened the picture and a small piece of notebook paper fell from it onto the bed, Piper picked up the note while Jason and the others looked at the picture. It was of all of them after the war. The seven of them sat around a table laughing and eating a dinner the camp made fit for a twenty kings. The picture looked like everyone was having a great time and relaxing. Percy was telling a joke to everyone, Annabeth undoubtedly calling him a "Seaweed Brain" while laughing, Jason holding hands with Piper, her head on his shoulder, as they laughed, Frank and Hazel hugging as Hazel struggled to contain the liquid in her mouth from laughing, and Reyna looking slightly amused while she ate a piece of steak; the only one missing was Leo. Jason guessed Leo was the one to take the picture as you could see his finer slightly on the lens, covering up half of Percy's body. Jason flipped the picture over and saw that it had messy handwriting but was able to decipher what it said.

"My best friends at Camp Half-Blood." Jason said calmly, wondering when he took the picture and how no one seemed to notice him. Jason looked at Piper to see her eyes watering, tears on the verge of breaking through. "Hey Pipes, what's wrong?"

"And where is Leo?" Frank asked, slightly worried something had happened to him.

"H-he's gone." Piper whispered as Reyna took the note from her hands and read it aloud.

"Dear Whoever decides to read this,"

"Really clever Leo…" Annabeth sighed, smiling slightly.

"It's probably been weeks since you've noticed I've been gone so I'm probably at the place I wanted to be by now. I really don't want to waste your time so I'm just going to say what I wanted to say, well… write I guess, and that is that I'm sorry. Live long and prosper, LV." Reyna finished, trying to decipher the message left by Leo as the others stood silent and listened to her talk.

"Wait, so he was taken?" Jason asked, slowly pulling out his gold coin, "We can't just stay here! He could be in trouble!"

"I don't think he was taken Jason…" Hazel said quietly, silently asking questions about the letter.

"Well then where is he? What happened to him?" Jason persisted, still confused as to what the letter meant.

"I don't know where he is, but I know he wasn't taken. There is no sign of a struggle; it looks like he took his time." Percy said, putting a hand on Annabeth's shoulder.

"Took his time with what?" Frank questioned as he wondered where his friend was.

"Running away." Annabeth stated, "Leo ran away."

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**(A/N) So I felt the need to write how Leo's friends would react to finding him leaving, hence the name of the chapter, but I decided to give you a bit of what happened to him after he left...and it's nothing good. And don't worry, you'll find out what happened to Leo...eventually *mwa ha ha* There might be a hint of Leyna in there, but I thought it would be fun to explore how the group is doing and how they are staying in touch (Percabeth married, the other two couples happy, the "secret club", Reyna and how she likes being accepted into the group, etc.). I forgot what I wanted to say but if you have any suggestions for the story, please let me know! I'll be happy to read over them and see if it fits into where I'm wanting to go! It's really heartwarming to see how many positive reviews this has gotten so far! Hopefully this one lives up to the expectations and I hope the same for the entire story I guess! Please review, let me know how I can improve, etc. I'm going to put a poll up soon with 1-3 summaries for other stories I might write so if you could check that out later and vote then that'd be greeeeeeeeeat. And that's the way the cookie crumbles! Hope you liked this chapter! **

**P.S. I try to respond to all of my reviews and if I haven't responded to yours then you have the right to drop kick my large intestine. (please don't though)**


	4. The Kid

**(A/N) Longest chapter thus far, I will respond to reviews I have gotten at the end as well as explain some stuff a bit. Hopefully some people like this chapter! Enjoy!**

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Nyssa woke up to a lot of running around on the _Argo III_, she had gone days without a full night's sleep and today was no exception; the dream she had that night still ran through her brain. She dreamt of Hephaestus Cabin being torn down from an invisible force, almost as if it were coming from the inside. She tried running to the cabin but was being pulled back, almost like being sucked into a black hole, away from Cabin Nine. She looked behind to see what was pulling her and only saw the _Argo III_ and the rest of her cabin beckoning for her to join them; they were pulling her away from something that she wasn't meant to see. She took one last look at the cabin too see the door open and someone slip out unnoticed, the cabin imploded as soon as the person left. The figure appeared on the hill, walking to the pine tree towards three large shadows with open arms; the person reached the largest shadow and was gone in an instant. Nyssa tried to scream and move but was already on the _Argo III_, slowly being crushed by the force while hearing a bone chilling laugh that seemed to echo through the world.

She walked out of the captain's quarters to see her entire cabin running around, picking up tools and sleeping pillows, and running as fast as a power tool on full speed towards the cabins. She stopped one of her friends, Jake Mason, to see what the problem was and why everyone was running around.

"What do you mean? No one's told you yet?" Jake yelled, surprised no one had told her about the mysterious problem. _Why would I be asking if I knew what the problem was?_

"No, no one's told me anything. I just woke up. So calm down, and start from the beginning." She tried to calm Jake Mason down; he looked extremely worried like when the time he couldn't find his monogrammed screwdriver a few summers ago.

"Okay, so last night Leo's friends went to our cabin to find him; something about not talking to him in a while or something. Anyways, when they went in they found all of his stuff gone. _POOF!_ There were only a few things left on his bed, even his tool set we made him was left on his work bench!" Jake stammered through the story, trying to gather his things and head out the door as Nyssa followed suit.

"So what happened to Leo? Is he okay?" Nyssa questioned, very concerned after remembering her dream last night; hoping it didn't involve her brother.

Jake turned around to face Nyssa as he stood on the ramp that led up to the _Argo III _with his bed ridden hair, the sun was just over his head and cast a small shadow over his eyes as he said, "Leo ran away. And we're going to go find him." He quickly turned around and ran towards the campers gathering around the Big House and some smaller groups gathering by the cabins.

Nyssa stood motionless on the _Argo III, _wondering if Leo went with monsters, if he was coerced into going with them to save his friends, or if he was taken by another camper as she didn't see any other way Leo would leave the camp. She looked at the _Argo III_, at the bronze work, the white sails, the wooden floor, the carvings on the wall that told of the Seven's journeys and quests, and the plaque that was by the door that led to the Captain's quarters, _"The Argo III, may this ship carry our bodies safe to shore." _ A small flame was painted under those words; along with the initials "LV" to show who put the most work into the creation. Nyssa immediately felt empty inside, they had lost another counselor and this time he _chose_ to leave which made the act hurt that much more. She turned and slowly walked down the ramp to help with the search for their runaway hero.

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**6 Years after Leo's Disappearance**

A group of friends sat around a table with a small umbrella shooting out of the middle of the table to shade them from the light snow that was falling from the sky down on the city of Manhattan, they sipped on their hot chocolate and their coffee and talked of their past journeys and adventures; they always did this before the Winter Solstice. It was their tradition to dedicate a month before the meeting of the gods to search for their Runaway Hero, Leo Valdez. Jason and Piper sat next to each other as they chatted with Frank and Hazel about a possible vacation from their busy lives, away from the troubling life of a demigod. Annabeth talked with Reyna about old Rome while Percy sat and stared at the traffic that whistled by, catching bits and pieces of both conversations until he was snapped out of his daze by a marshmallow flying towards his face at a high speed. Percy quickly opened his mouth and ingested the white fluffy substance as Jason began speaking about their vacation.

"Ha, as I was saying Perce. You and Annabeth should join us on our trip, we are going to Brazil for a bit; a change in scenery would do us all some good." Jason said, wrapping his arm around Piper as she fiddled with her wedding ring.

"I don't know man, we've got a lot going on at the company right now and I can't just leave when I want. Well I could, but we are on the brink of something _big_! I can feel it in my Seaweed Brain!" Percy leaned forward in his chair as he sipped his coffee and took a bite of a blueberry muffin.

"Well I'm sure your company can manage a few days without you can't it? You can take a break, have some fun like old times, and come back so you can work on your water stuff." Frank said, interlocking his hands with Hazel's.

"One, its water purification not water stuff! And two, I still have fun!" Percy retorted as he tossed the last of his muffin into the air and caught it in his mouth. "See?" He tried to say but bits of the muffin launched out of his mouth and onto the table, he quickly finished what was in his mouth as the others stopped their laughing.

"Ya know you can come along if you want Reyna. I think it would be nice for you to do something other than search for a change." Piper said concern in her voice for her friend.

"I can't I still have to…" Reyna started but was interrupted by Piper putting her hand on Reyna's arm.

"I know, but it's been _six years_ Reyna. We aren't that much closer but I'm not saying you have to give up; none of us will. I'm just saying I think you could use a break." Piper insisted, remembering how hard Leo leaving had been on all of them.

Percy sat and watched his group of friends as he remembered how the last six years of their life went by without Leo. As soon as Leo's disappearance was discovered, everyone began the search for the Hero of Olympus; even the gods and goddesses. Olympus, Camp Half-Blood, The Hunters, the Amazonians, Camp Jupiter, and even Camp Fish-Blood searched the four corners of the Earth for Leo Valdez.

After the second year, the gods and Camp Fish-Blood eventually stopped diverting all of their resources towards the search for him and back to their regular routine; though still keeping an eye out for him. During the third year they had gotten a sliver of hope when a satyr spotted a person that fit Leo's description near Detroit, he was also spotted near Los Angeles but the weird thing was that it was a day after his sighting in Detroit; no one could move that fast on foot (let alone a Pegasus).

After the fourth year, only his close friends kept up the search but only for one or two full months out of the year instead of constant searching. Hephaestus cabin rarely came out of the workshop or their cabin, mourning the loss of another of their counselors, and trying to overcome the resurfaced curse that had fallen on their cabin. Some believed there was no curse of cabin nine at all; it was all just in their head, trying to cope with the loss of another counselor. Hephaestus children stopped popping up all together; the Blacksmith God had been unable to have any children after his favorite son had left, even with the help of his wife whom could not stand to see her husband so miserable. Some campers grew bitter towards the hero, believing he was doing this to gain attention or try and overthrow Olympus; their claims were silenced swiftly by other campers.

It seemed it was only yesterday they were all on the _Argo II_ on their way to Greece to stop Gaia, only yesterday…

"He has to slip up some time guys, remember when he was spotted near Detroit? Or how about LA? Or what about Pittsburgh a few months back? We'll find him eventually, we have to." Jason said, trying to convince his friends, along with himself, that there was still hope in finding their friend.

After finishing their drinks and snacks, the group started walking down the streets of Manhattan towards one of Percy and Annabeth's apartments. Despite the situation of their meeting, the group was in high spirits that one day they would find Leo, and one day they would all be happy together…whether Leo wanted it or not. They passed by a middle school letting out, with seventh and eighth graders running around towards the busses and parent's cars to get home. The group of childhood friends remembered when they were younger and were just discovering they were half-bloods, it was frightening and fun at the same time. As they rounded the corner of a street the group was split in two by a blur of blue followed by three more blurs as if they were chasing the first. Just as Frank was about to complain about manners in the city he was interrupted by the yelling of one of the blurs that was directed to the first.

"VALDEZ! GET BACK HERE!"

The group immediately looked at each other and sprinted off after the group that appeared to be kids in middle school. They ducked and weaved between alleys, trying to pass the chasers while trying to follow the first one at the same time. Jason caught up to one of the chasers and pulled him back as the others raced passed them.

"You're going to go home, do your homework, and leave that kid alone. Understand?" Jason said, making electricity arc around his eyes to add effect. The kid stammered a "yes sir" as he sprinted off in the other direction yelling about something called a Bioshock.

Piper caught up to the next one as she put her hand on his should and used charmspeak to calm him down, "Would you be a dear and go home for a bit? You look extremely tired and you could use some rest, why not eat some donuts or something?" She said, hoping her friends had caught up to the last one.

Frank caught the last one has he simply turned him around mid-run and said "Go home kid." In a stern voice, channeling his inner Mars, making the kid whimper and back away from Frank towards his house.

Percy, Annabeth, Hazel, and Reyna had caught up to the first blur to see where he was going and they finally got a good look at him as he hid behind a hot dog cart. He wore a blue hoodie with orange and red flames on the sleeves, cargo shorts that looked worn and passed down to him from someone older than him, tan skin that looked like caramel, and a mop of black hair that wasn't curly like Leo's but very untamed like Percy's. He sat behind the cart for a good five minutes before sighing in relief and walking down an alley, looking around him nervously.

Right as he turned onto the street from the alley, Jason, Piper, and Frank caught up with their group as they followed him deeper into the city until they came into the "less maintained area" of town. There were some abandoned apartment complexes and houses as well as one small hotel in this area of the city, not many people ventured to this part of town as they deemed it "unsafe" and a possible suicide mission due to the gang activity. The boy walked down the street with his hands in his pockets as he walked towards the abandoned hotel. As he opened the door to the hotel, the group decided now would be a good time as any to follow him into the mysterious hotel, as they started walking towards it however; they seemed to slow down like they were carrying the weight of the world on their shoulders.

"Wh-what's happening?" Hazel said, struggling to walk straight until she started leaning onto Frank for support.

"I-it's the Mist. It's trying to get us to turn away, push through." Annabeth struggled to say as she was the closest to the hotel. As the group came to the hotel doors, they read a sign that said, "Obey the rules and you may stay. LV." The effect the Mist had on the group seemed to dissipate as they opened the door to the hotel, it had a cherry red carpet shining on the floor that led to the reception desk, surprising clean floors despite the occasional toy or piece of paper lying about on it, clean windows that let the sun shine brightly into the lobby, bright paintings that looked like a 5 year old painted with their hands, soft piano music playing from another room rang through the hotel, and a few kids walking around that ranged from five to eighteen years old. As they neared the reception desk they saw one girl, about 17 years old, sitting on the desk eating some chips and a boy about 18 years old siting behind it writing something down.

"What's a four letter word for…stop right there!" The boy yelled as he noticed the group walking into the hotel unescorted.

"Halt?" The girl offered; looking slightly confused at the boy and his outburst.

The boy stood up from his desk and walked around to greet the new people, he had extremely red hair that rivaled Rachel Elizabeth Dare's but hung down on his forehead just above his eyes, freckles covering his entire nose and cheek area, bright blue eyes that resembled the sky on a bright sunny day with no clouds, and a long bronze sword strapped to his side that shined from the light.

"How'd you get here, what do you want, and do you want to live?"

"Oh be nice Ronald, why not welcome them and show them around? I mean really, why are you so grumpy all the time?" The girl questioned, turning to face the group while she sat on the desk, she had long blonde hair that looked like a thousand golden drachmas, dark brown eyes that resembled milk chocolate and one small scar on her left cheek. She had a bow resting on her right, painted red and orange with flames, and a full quiver of brightly colored arrows resting on the desk next to the bow.

"Because, Izzy, I was assigned to guard the place by him! And what did I tell you about calling me Ronald? I told you to call me Ron." The boy asked, looking slightly annoyed by the girl whom was sticking her tongue at him.

"You know you like it."

"No I most certainly don't."

"Yea huh."

"_No_. I don't."

"Yes huh."

"Nuh huh."

"Okay listen, we just want to talk to that kid who just walked in." Annabeth said, pinching the bridge of her nose as she tried to calm down from the bickering in front of her.

"No one's talking to anybody; we don't know who you are and what you want. So you can either leave, or I can make you." Ron said, pulling his sword from his waist as Isabel hopped down from the desk.

"What he meant to say was, we don't get a lot of new people here and would appreciate it if you could tell us who you are and how you got here." Isabel said as she lowered Ron's arm, she had a smile on her face that would cause the Minotaur to love her.

"I'm Piper, this is Jason, _my husband_," Piper added quickly, noticing the look in the girl's eye, "this is Annabeth and Percy, Frank and Hazel, and Reyna. We just want to ask the boy who walked in here a few minutes ago some questions. We are looking for someone and we think he could help us, could you go get him please?" Piper said, trying to add charmspeak to her voice. She never used it unless absolutely necessary, seeing as how this involved Leo, she deemed it necessary.

"Don't try to charmspeak us. It won't work here." Ron sternly stated as he stepped forward, Jason jumping right in front of Piper to defend her in the process.

"Look, we can go get him. Just tell us his name and we'll send for him, but you talk right in front of us and he doesn't leave the hotel. Okay? That seems fair right?" Isabel said, trying to calm Ron and Jason down and work out a compromise.

"She's right guys." Frank said to his friends before turning back to Izzy, "We only know his last name, Valdez. He has a hoodie with flames, and mop of black hair." Frank answered, not wanting to have any conflict with the young teenagers.

"Matt?" Ron questioned, lowering his guard and looking at Frank.

"Okay, but don't forget the rules we stated earlier." Ron stared at Frank until he nodded, then at the group as they nodded in compliance, "Okay then," he turned to Izzy, "Go get Matt okay?" Isabel nodded and ran down the hallway to the right calling for Matt. They waited for a few minutes in awkward silence before Matt was walking towards the group with a smile plastered on his face.

"Did my girl scout cookies come in yet?" He said as he put his arm around Isabel, whom slid it off just as quick.

"Are you Valdez?" Jason said, seeing a slight resemblance to Leo.

"Yea, I'm Matthew Valdez. Did I do something wrong again? Because I swear, it wasn't me! Unless it involved hamsters, haha now _that_ was me." He laughed, his eyes looking over everyone in the conversation.

"You wouldn't happen to be related to a Leo Valdez would you?" Piper asked, wondering if and how they could be related.

"Yea I am!" Matt puffed out his chest, "He's my dad!" he finished as he began smiling at the shocked group in front of him.

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**(A/N) First things first. Just wanted to say "WOW". I was not expecting that many reviews, favorites, and follows for this story. I'm writing for my Independent Study in school and just figured it would be fun to write this, it makes me extremely happy to know you guys (and girls) like this story so much! It's a bit nerve wracking to try and live up to he expectations you guys have given me but I think I could do it! You wanted to see how everyone would react to Leo leaving but I am only giving you Nyssa's reaction...for now. More about Leo next chapter, I pinky promise! This was really fun to come up with, I've got a great idea on what Leo has been doing the past six years and I hope you guys will like it because I answer quite a bit of questions in it! (I know I like it at least!). I really forgot what else I wanted to write here so if I think of anything I'll add it later but it must not be very important if I forgot! I'll just let you know I'm going to focus on this story the most, seeing as how it's gotten the most feedback, but I won't quit the other story! I'm going on vacation May 31- June 6? (I think it's till June 6th) So no update for that time, sorry! I can't express my happiness from reading all the reviews and great feedback, it makes me feel like a thousand drachmas! Anyways, let me know what you think of this chapter, what you would like to see, and what you thought would be better! (it helps, trust me!)**

**REVIEWS:**

**Percylia22: I love Leo in all his glory, may it be sad, happy, heroic, goofy, and all that in between!**

**courtara: I'm not sure anyone at camp would be happy he was kidnapped, I'm just saying. Thanks for the enthusiasm!**

**Hitomi Hozuki: THANK YOU for writing a review for each chapter, I love you for it! Anyways, yea I have never written ANYTHING sad like this before! I'm generally a happy person so I thought it would be fun to try something different and it's good to know I did well in it! I think it said Frank's grandma died in the book but I really don't care, I saw it pretty important to keep her alive for a bit *mwa ha ha, she died in those six years*. If I haven't already, I will answer what Reyna was doing in CHB. Also why she isn't at Camp Jupiter right now! There might be a _hint_ of Leyna in this story but I'm not going to focus on it completely. It's about friendship and tough times, but I don't think it'll hurt if Leo got a little more love from Reyna as well! So don't worry, I will explain what the monster's were from Reyna's vision in a few chapters (if not the next), I probably slipped up with them not noticing him at the club but I figured they would think he was working on the _Argo III. _And It's okay if your English isn't great, I followed pretty well so you're doing great! Thanks again!**

**Guest (there's two so I'm going to answer both in one): I figured since Reyna was, sorry _is_, praetor she could read people pretty well. She's in politics so I figured that would be an acquired skill from that. Jason wanting laughs is something I intentionally put in there, I think it shows they viewed him (though subconsiously) as a way to relieve the tension**

**So I have to go now, school stuff (bell just rang)! I'll try to update the next chapter ASAP but no promises, I have to get the story more refined and stuff! See ya next time! Live long and prosper!**


	5. The Conference Room

The group stood silenced as they stared at a boy puffing out his chest, saying he was Leo's son.

"W-WHAT?!" Piper yelled, completely confused by the situation that was in front of her.

"What do you mean you're his _kid_?" Annabeth asked, seeing as how the only way Leo could have had a kid was if he met someone way before he left.

Jason stepped forward and did something unexpected, he hugged Matt.

"Welcome to the family, I'm Jason Grace." He said as he released Matt from his titan-like bear hug. Matt seemed stunned from his action; he backed away slowly from Jason and kept starring at the group as he stuttered a response.

"Y-you? _You're _Jason Grace? _You _are the ones he talked about?" Matt questioned, completely stunned by his slip up. He should have known it was them; they still looked the same from the picture…

"You know us?" Percy asked, trying to keep up with the information being transferred back and forth between the groups.

"Whoa, you know these guys Matt?" Ronald asked, stepping next to Matt as he was lost in his thoughts.

"Y-you don't recognize them?" Matt whispered, barely audible so that only Ron and Izzy could hear him.

"No, should we?" Izzy pondered, slowly reaching for her bow as she sensed trouble was near.

"F-follow me, but _watch_ them." Matt commanded as he started walking down the hall to the left, passing by a few children coloring a battle of monsters on the walls.

Ronald motioned with his sword for the group to follow Matt, as they filed down the hall he followed; keeping a firm grip on his sword as Matt was never, ever, worried until now. He figured that would be a good enough reason to keep his guard on high.

They followed Matt pass room numbers; 102, 103, 104, 105 and so on.

"Where is room 101?" Reyna asked, her ADHD slightly acting up.

"Oh that's where we—" Izzy started but was interrupted by Ronald, whom seemed on high alert.

"Do not divulge our military secrets Izzy!" He said as he gritted his teeth.

"They aren't really _military_ secrets now are they _Ronald_?"

"Don't call me—"

"Anyways, that's where we travel and where he stays whenever he shows up!" Izzy replied, seeming slightly hyper and excited at the mention of _him_.

"Travel?" Frank was confused as to how someone could travel via a room.

"Where who stays?" Hazel asked, remembering some of her past from the architecture that the hotel had.

"Well Mr. Valdez of course!" Izzy screamed, extremely jumpy from the conversation but in a way a five year old seems jumpy from talking about his/her Lego collection.

"Izzy, he doesn't like it when you call him _Mr. Valdez_ …" Ronald sighed, letting his guard lower just a little bit; though he was still mad at being called Ronald.

" Mr. Valdez?" Percy questioned, stepping over some toddlers playing a board game on the floor.

"I WIN AGAIN!" One screamed as the other pouted, wiping the board clean to start a new round.

"Leo Valdez, the guy who helped us!" Izzy answered matter-of-factly, ignoring the paper airplane that was on a head-on collision with Annabeth.

"OW!" Annabeth screamed as she was surprised to find an airplane lodged in her hair, Percy untangled it and threw it with grace back to the thrower; flashing him a mischievous smile in the process.

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"We're here." Matt said, opening a door that read _Conference Room_ _#120_. He walked in and immediately opened the mini fridge, pulling out two 2-liter bottles of a red liquid labeled "DO NOT TOUCH." The room itself was rather plain, it had a large wooden table in the middle, a few counters in the corner that held a mini fridge, a coffee pot, a few racks of chips, and some silverware. It also had a 32 inch TV positioned on the opposite side of the room with a small webcam sitting on top of it. The group filed in and took seats next to each other around the table, Matt taking the head of the table next to Izzy as Ron was the last one in as he closed the door and leaned up against it, eyeing the group cautiously.

"What is _that_?" Piper questioned as she sat next to Jason, seeing a resemblance to blood. She really hoped what she saw in scary movies wasn't going to happen to them, but she sighed in relief when Matt explained.

"Calm down, Piper," Matt said with a smile on his face, "It's just red cream soda. It's his favorite, mine too!" Matt explained, pouring three glasses of cream soda and then downing them all.

Izzy just smiled at Matt and his obsession with cream soda while Ron cleared his throat, "Ahem, Matt?"

"Hm? Yea?" He mumbled as he downed another glass.

"Why are we here?" Ron shot back, obviously annoyed with the boy and his drink.

Matt wiped his mouth with his sleeve and stood up, clapping his hands together, "Yes, right, sorry. Well the question on how I know you can be answered just by showing you something." He walked over to a counter and opened a drawer, pulling out a small picture. It was the same picture Leo had left at Camp Half-Blood the night he left.

"Th-that's the picture. How did you get it?" Piper asked, confused as she thought they had the only copy of that picture.

"He gave it to me, something about knowing where he came from. Anyways, he'll be around here soon enough." Matt replied, pouring another glass of soda which effectively finished one bottle.

"No he isn't Matthew, it's not time yet. He never comes by during December, you know that." Izzy said, silently sipping on her own glass, which she stole from Matt.

"Oh he'll come around, hopefully." Matt added, raising his eyebrows and smiling reassuringly. He took out a small bronze cube and pushed a red button on it, causing a loud beep to resonate throughout the entire hotel, "There, he should be here in about 30 minutes." He pocketed the item and leaned back in his chair, opening up the next bottle and taking swigs out of it every once in a while.

"Well okay, we want answers. One, how can you be his son?" Reyna said, leaning against counter that held the chips, she opened one and started nibbling on a few pieces.

"Yea, you're way too old to be his son. Wait, how old _are_ you anyways?" Annabeth asked, trying to pinpoint an age for Matt. He seemed really young physically but mentally he seemed mature, probably about 16 or 17. She was interrupted from her thoughts as Matt belched, smiled, and said "'cuse me!" Okay, so those guesses dropped down to 5 or 6 years old.

"I'm twelve, and about him being my dad…that's true but not true at the same time." He said, noticing the group's confusion he quickly added, "I kind of adopted him as my dad. He took us in when we needed help; I took his last name a while back. He didn't seem to care, but I could tell he liked it." He smiled a bit, reminiscing about something then quickly turning his attention back to the group, "Others just kept their last name but treated him like their dad. After all he's done for us, it's the least we could do to treat him like our father."

"Wait, what do you mean _everyone_?" Jason asked he had only seen the three in front of him and about four others outside the room. He was completely confused as to how this hotel had gone unnoticed by other people, or why it hadn't been bought by some large corporation to be demolished but he then remembered it was covered in heavy amounts of Mist.

"Everyone he helps, people like us." Izzy said, gesturing to the trio.

"People like you?" Percy questioned instantly, spotting Matt rip up bits of a napkin and smiling.

"Runaways, outcasts, third-wheels, ya know…the cool ones!" Matt exclaimed, running his hand through his hair.

"How many of you are there?" Piper asked, feeling somewhat proud Leo would do something like this even though he left his friends at camp.

"At this place specifically, there are about 50 who stay here permanently and another twenty or so drifters." Ronald asked, lowering his guard a bit.

"This place? How many are there? And are you all half-bloods? Who are your godly parents?" Annabeth shot questions like an anti-air weapon, swift and no pauses in between.

"Woah calm down lady!" Matt exclaimed as he got up, threw the bits of napkin in the air like confetti and ran around the room like a rabid squirrel screaming "WOOO!"

"Sorry about that, he gets a little crazy when he drinks cream soda…." Izzy started but was interrupted before she finished.

"WOO! I GET CRAZY? YOU SHOULD HAVE SEEN HER AT THE CHRISTMAS PARTY! REMEMBER WHEN YOU AND VINCE TRIED TO—_oomph_." He started screaming but was interrupted by Ron tripping him as he ran past, causing him to fall gently to the soft carpet. He shot back up immediately and tried climbing on the counters next to Reyna, who backed away slowly towards her friends.

"Yea, he really shouldn't have drunk all of the cream soda." Ron sighed, obviously used to Matt's antics.

"Is he always like this?" Reyna questioned, ready to catch Matt if he fell from the top of the mini fridge he had just climbed.

"He seemed nervous so I'm not surprised he drank soda. It calms him down, ironically." Ron shrugged his shoulders as he kept a watchful eye on Jason.

"Matthew Valdez, get down from there or I'll—" Izzy scolded but was startled to see Matt fall from the fridge, to be caught by Reyna and placed down at his chair, instantly falling asleep.

"Anyways," Izzy seemed a bit shaken up from the incident but continued, "We don't know how many places he has, we only know of two other ones. One is for Half-Bloods in LA and another is for mortals somewhere in Queens." Izzy answered, patting an exhausted Matt who was passed out on the chair next to her, quietly muttering something he was dreaming about.

"Ducks….get…away…" Matt swatted slowly through the air, like he was pushing a giant duck away from something, his hand was brought slowly back to the table by Izzy who was smiling softly at Matt.

"Yea, we're half-bloods. Some of us stick around here and train; others only stay a little bit then go to Camp-Half Blood or Camp Jupiter, depending on where you are. On some rare occasions they come back and train the regulars here." Izzy said, after softly shushing Matt from talking about the ducks getting his pizza.

"As for our godly parents, I'm a son of Ares and—" Ron huffed but was interrupted by a giddy Izzy.

"I'm a daughter of Apollo!" Izzy sang as she flashed a blinding smile, "Matthew doesn't know his parent yet, either that or he won't tell us." She sighed as she moved a few strands of Matt's hair out of his face.

"My money's on Hermes." Percy said, becoming a bit more comfortable with the group as he walked over to the counters to find something to snack on. He opened the fridge up to see cream soda out the wahzoo, a few bags of marshmallows, and a few bags of jelly beans. He immediately grabbed two bags of jelly beans, walked back to his chair next to Annabeth, and started eating the blue jelly beans.

"Seaweed Brain…" Annabeth sighed, putting her hand on her face and smiling at Percy's love of the color blue. A loud noise rang through the hotel that sounded like a cross between a factory running and stone sliding across stone. As soon as the sound started running through the halls of the hotel, Matt woke up instantly with wide eyes, shooting out of his chair and running out the door after yelling, "DAD'S HERE!"

"Well I suppose we should follow him before he gets into trouble…" Ron huffed as he walked out the door towards Matt and the yelling.

"As if you can stop him from getting into trouble Ronald!" Izzy yelled at Ron as he left the room she stood up and headed for the door then turned around, "Come on then! It's time for you to meet Mr. Valdez!" She motioned for them to follow her as she skipped out the door singing.

"Well…" Jason sighed as he lifted himself up from the chair, "Let's go meet _Mr. Valdez_." They walked out the door down the hall towards the singing and yelling, wondering what had become of their lost friend.

* * *

As they walked down the halls that seemed to now be deserted, they started talking on how to handle talking to Leo.

"What if he hates us?"

"What? Valdez? Hate _us_? How could he?"

"Well he has to come back…"

"We can't pry him from the kids; they need him just as much as we need him."

"Just bring them to camp, it'll be fine."

"Actually, that's not a bad idea."

"What about the mortals they mentioned?"

"They have mortal orphanages, even camps year round in Oklahoma."

They walked to the lobby to see Izzy waving her hand at them as she walked into room 101. The group filed in to see the living conditions in the room and was horrified at them, mainly because there were barely any. The room itself was rather large with red curtains on the windows, soft carpet with some stains in areas that looked like grease…or blood. The bed was a messy king sized one with a single pillow and a small blanket; there were flame designs all over the room as well as some tools one might find in a repair shop. On one wall there were strange drawings of inventions and designs that ranged from a rocket propelled marshmallow gun to a way to tame hellhounds with a cleverly created collar. There was a coat hanger in the corner of the room with two trench coats, a fedora, and a baseball cap with flames on it and the number 9 on the front. All in all, the room was an exact replica of Cabin 9. Except for one design that sent chills down Percy and Annabeth's bones… a delta, Δ, that glowed blue in a small crevice in the wall.

As they looked around the room, seeing Ron leaning against the wall, Izzy playing with her hair, and Matt barely able to stand still, the only barren wall moved. It opened to reveal a black rectangular shaped hole, the group stared at the opening in anticipation and nervousness as a man stumbled out from the darkness.

"Whew! Sorry I was late," The man coughed as he looked at the room and cleaned some dirt from his pants and shoulders, "Where's the trouble?" He asked Matt, Izzy and Ron.

Izzy looked at the man innocently, Ron just huffed, and Matt stuttered out an answer, "Ha-ha, a-about that…yea there may not have been trouble." He rushed through the last part.

"Matthew, you of all people _know_ I don't like coming to New York during the winter…" He looked at Matt sternly then the dam broke, he cracked a smile.

"So, why'd ya call? Wanted to hang out? That's fine, just next time don't go setting off the alarms like….last….time…" The man looked around the room to see the group of friends watching him with teary eyes and open mouths.

"L-Leo?" Piper asked, covering her mouth as tears began to well up in her eyes.

"Hey Pipes." The man waved his hand slowly then made a break for the opening in the wall to see it had already closed, "Damn." He quietly cursed as he slowly turned around to face his past.

"Leo Valdez, you have got some explaining to do." Reyna said as she stepped forward, looking extremely angry but the anger melted away after a few tense seconds when she pulled Leo into a bear hug, "Where have you been!" The group questioned as they joined in on the hug with their lost friend.

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**(A/N) WELCOME TO LEO WORLD! He's back and next chapter you'll get a look at what he's been doing these past few years, then a look at how his "friends" at camp will react! I really tried my best to make the chapter quality work, hopefully I did, but I tried insanely hard to get this out before I leave tomorrow for a week and a half. I may let you guys peek at what the other "houses" look like, similar to the hotel but all built for different reasons. Most of the chapters from here on out will be in Leo's perspective, at least in the flashbacks as he tells his story. I honestly forget if I wanted to say anything else, just finished this chapter 5 minutes ago (I proofread everyday and edit as I work as opposed to doing all of that at the end of the chapter) but this kid next to me in computer class is playing horse noises on his computer and can I just say...CAN YOU STOP HORSING AROUND? (I had to) **

**ANYWAYS, hope you like the chapter and all. Not everything will be nice in this story but it IS about friendship so I can't promise Leyna but I am not saying I won't sneak in little bits of it like I did at the end of the chapter. Back on track, R&R (just found out that stands for "Read and Review"...I think), all that jazz. Let me know how I can improve, what you would like to see, and just any other awesome stuff that comes to mind! I will answer some reviews down below but that's all of my author's notes for now! Also THANK YOU SO MUCH for the reviews and favorites and follows this has gotten, I nearly passed out from the amount of them! MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU!**

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**bluelightningbug: You're the main reason I "rushed" this chapter, it's the least I could do for you guys (and girls)! Hopefully I answered everyone's questions on how Leo could have a kid, they kind of adopted him as their "father figure". Which actually happens sometimes so it's not "crazy" to say that. Took your advice on thick paragraphs, or I tried to at least, thanks again! **

**courtara: Yea I may or may not have *cough* totally did *cough* done that on purpose with Ronald. I just needed a character and I have always liked Ron's character for reasons, he just seems so amazing and actually resembles Leo a bit if you think about it! Glad you liked the chapter!**

**Vans321: I am not going to confirm nor deny Matt being a child of the big "H". Didn't travel with Leo, as far as _you_ know *mwa ha ha*, but he is not his bio son.**

**ThalicoxTratieFan4Ever: WHAT? Don't cry! It's not that sad is it? It makes me really happy to know so many people like my very first story (I came up with this idea before my "Two Worlds Collide" idea, just never got around to writing it.) Thank you so much!**

**Fluff-is-awesome: Yea, I kinda did name him that on purpose. :D. If you liked the beginning then you'll like what's to come, we learn what happened to Leo from his POV. So much time has passed because I thought it would be _really_ cool for Leo to tell what happened to him to his "friends" and some of the kids he helped.  
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**Again, thank you all SOOOOO much for the reviews! It keeps me going! By the way, did anyone else catch my little "throwback" to "The Lost Hero" in one of the early chapters? I thought he didn't even like/watch Star Trek?**

**Next update will be about a week and a half's (hopefully) time. See ya in Florida!**


	6. The Antique Shop

"Okay, I'm as much of a fan of these big group hugs as the next guy but I do like my personal space." Leo said, voice muffled from his friends hugging the life out of their lost companion.

The friends detached themselves and smiled at an uncomfortable Leo, who rubbed the back of his neck and looked down at the ground with a forced smile on his face. He never came to accept the fact that his friends never wanted him, but the last time they showed this much affection...well, they _never_ did.

After the group had regained their composure, Piper walked up to Leo with a stern look on her face. She pulled her hand back while Leo straightened and looked her directly in the eyes, readying himself for what was to come next..._SMACK! _

"Do you know how worried we were!" Piper screamed as she pulled her hand back to slap Leo on his already red face a second time before he spoke and raising his hand to signal a stop; catching her off guard.

"Just follow me, I'll explain..." He put his hand on Matt's shoulder and ushered the group, along with Izzy and Ron, to follow him to another part of the hotel.

The group walked in complete silence as they followed Leo to the edge of the hotel limits, the farther they went into the hotel the worse the hotel itself looked. The paint was fading, there was garbage thrown all over the floor, even a few pieces of furniture in the hallway that required for them to climb over it, as well as graffiti on the walls until they came to an abrupt stop.

"What the-" Percy started as he bumped into Piper, unaware of his friends stopping in front of him to marvel at a door in the middle of the hallway.

The door in front of them was obviously built by someone else, it was a patchwork of different types of metal that were heated to form two thick double doors, they were chained together with a pure black chain and a rather large black lock that had three key holes. Leo walked up to it and placed his hand on the door as the group watched their friend look solemnly at the door. Finally it was Matt that spoke up to ask the question that was nagging in the back of all of their minds.

"Uh dad?" He asked in a whisper, but still loud enough for everyone to hear

"Mhm." Was Leo's only response as he stared at the door as if remembering a long forgotten and sad memory.

"W-what are we doing here? We're not supposed to travel this far into the hotel." Matt questioned as he walked up to his father figure and saw a much more vulnerable version of Leo Valdez. There was never an answer to the question as Leo exhaled heavily and equipped a small gray key, unlocking the first keyhole with a loud _CLICK. _As the click rang through the hall, the door, lock, and chain changed color to a dark mixture of what appeared to be orange and gold.

"Matt, give me your necklace." Leo held out his hand as Matt reluctantly removed his necklace he had gotten from his first birthday at the hotel with everyone. It was a golden flame with the letter 'V' engraved on it, the golden necklace seemed to glow faintly as it entered Leo's rough hands.

The repair boy slowly traced the 'V' on the necklace, allowing it to transform into it's true form, the necklace grew into the shape of a golden key as Leo unlocked the second with an equally loud _CLICK_; the door, lock, and chain turning into a dark bronze color.

"H-how did you do that?" Matt asked, astonished at the necklace he had been wearing as long as he can remember.

"I've learned a lot, and have shown you little. When you're ready, I'll teach you to be greater than I ever could be." Leo looked at Matt with sadness in his eyes but truly promised to teach Matt everything he knew; and more.

"No one's as good as you! You're amazing! The greatest son of Hephaestus there ever was! No way could I do half the stuff you have!" Matt slightly yelled, looking worried and not used to the serious situation that lay before him.

A small smile graced Leo's face as he looked into the eyes of his favorite child, "I know someone who was just like you, except you're so much more." Leo then turned to his old friends and said sternly, "Which one of you has it?"

"W-what do you mean?" Hazel asked, looking into the eyes of her friend.

"The wrench, which one of you has it?" He asked again, slightly annoyed.

"What wrench?" Percy questioned, wondering if he meant the wrench he left ages ago.

"The wrench I left, don't bother hiding it. I can sense it on one of you." At this point Reyna stepped forward and opened up her bag she had been carrying, pulling out the exact same wrench Leo had left on his bunk when he left a long, long time ago. He looked into the dark brown eyes of Reyna's for a moment then turned toward the door once more to open the double doors in front of them.

"Thank you." He mumbled before whispering something to the wrench, "πλήκτρο" **(Means "Key" in Greek...according to Google Translate at least)**. The wrench glowed slightly as it formed a small bronze key. Matt looked surprised again at Leo's creation as the lonely mechanic unlocked the final lock on the bronze double doors. Leo stopped for a moment as the chain and lock fell to the ground with a loud, _CLANK_, and he removed the keys as they transformed to their original states and handed them back to Reyna and Matt.

Leo pushed open the now black double doors to reveal the most run down section of the entire hotel, graffiti painted heavily on the walls, garbage thrown everywhere, and large drums that looked like they were used as a fire pit.

The group stepped into the room, noticing there were sleeping bags on the ground along with some toys for small children.

Frank stepped in and almost slipped from a grease spot on the ground, "Whoa!" he yelled before finally losing his balance and falling to the ground. He looked over to his left and saw a dusty and broken grand piano with graffiti on it as well.

"A ballroom?" He guessed as Ron and Jason helped him up from the ground.

"A long time ago..." Leo said as he looked at a corner of the room that had a burnt sleeping bag on the ground. "Help me with this." he commanded as the group moved a few of the chairs around into a small circle and putting the least destroyed table in the middle. The group sat down and looked awkwardly at each other, wondering what was going through Leo's head as he stared at a spot on the table as if remembering something.

"Uhhh Leo? What are we-" Piper asked but was interrupted by Leo coming out of his dazed state.

"I'm going to tell you a story, it's a long one but it's about what I've been doing these past years...as well as what I am going to do." He said the last part quietly as the group leaned inward; eager to listen to their friend's tale.

_~~~~~~~~~~Flashback~~~~~~~~~~_

Leo walked away from Camp Half-Blood with a mixture of emotions rolling around inside his head, leaving him a bit out of his mind; more than usual.

_You're a loner. You'll never find anyone. _

_That's not true, you found her. _

_She doesn't care, she barely talks to you. Show them why fire users are feared. _

_Stop! Just stop it! Stop suggesting that!_

_The option is always there..._

He felt guilty for leaving his friends, even though they disregarded him like a broken toy, because he would always care for them no matter what. He was loyal, not to Percy's extent, but loyal till the end. He felt depressed from wasting time at Camp, from being the outsider, from being a loser. He never really considered himself depressed but finally came to the sudden realization a few days ago when he found himself starring at the stars for the entire night; thinking about his life.

_Why do you just sit there? No wonder no one wants to talk to you. You do nothing but work. _

_But work is all I have. _

_Have you even built anything by yourself? You didn't build Festus, you didn't build the Argo II or III alone. The only thing you're worth is sarcastic comments and poor humor you use to create your cheap facade of strength and confidence. _

Despite all of the horrible feelings he had jumbled inside his curly haired head, he felt a strange sense of freedom as he walked towards the city. For one of the few times in his life, he felt free from everything. Free from his friends scolding and disappointing him. Free from his duties as Cabin Counselor for Hephaestus Cabin. Free from all responsibility...

He entered the city as it started to rain, not a light drizzle but a downpour, and ducked into a small shop on the corner; he didn't notice the single eye on the sign as he walked in.

He entered the shop to see that he had stumbled upon an antique shop, meaning that there were piles of scrap, swords hanging on the walls, armor stands with beautiful ornamental chest-plates and helms, as well as a few guns and odd contraptions on shelves that lined the store like a large library.

"Woah." He said as he inspected the engravings on an old American Revolution cannon, a lightning bolt. Did a son of Zeus fight in the American Revolution? Did Zeus pity his son like Thalia and instead of a pine tree did he turn him into a cannon? What if-

Leo's thoughts were interrupted by the backroom door opening swiftly, effectively slamming into the wall as it opened, revealing large man with long brown hair covering his face standing in the doorway. He wore dusty suspenders, charred jeans, a sweat and grease covered shirt, and a bowler hat.

"Fine cannon...I remember when Molly Pitcher used that to fight off the British. Quite ironic that a child of Zeus would want to fight a king, don't you think?" He asked, leaning against a shelf that held a helmet that was labeled "Attila The Hun".

"Wh-what is this place?" Leo questioned, noticing more and more ancient artifacts ranging from different time periods.

"My collection. I guess you could say I'm a hoarder of sorts." The man smiled evilly, slowly moving closer to Leo.

"I'll say. You my friend, need help." Leo replied, noticing a sword on the wall with an owl engraved on it, "Where did you get these anyways? Comic-Con?" He asked, genuinely interested.

"That's the best part...I took them." He slowly gripped a blunderbuss with the symbol of Ares on it.

"Well that's cool, but I should probably go. I have another appointment with a kleptomaniac across town and I don't think he'd like me if I was late." Leo started for the door quickly but the man rushed to block his path.

"You won't be leaving Leo Valdez." The man smoothly said, sending chills down Leo's spine. His voice was like nails on a chalkboard but it almost sounded like...

He was interrupted when the man aimed his blunderbuss and shot at Leo, luckily Leo rolled to the left just in time to hide behind a shelf of assorted jewelry.

"Watch it! You could have shot me!" Leo cried, observing any other way out as he ducked behind another shelf with scraps of metal.

"Leo, come out! We just want to talk!" The voice called, he sounded just like Piper...

_What are they doing here?_

"Yea come on man! We took care of big ugly, where are you?" Jason's voice rang through the store.

_Jason too! They came back for me! _

Leo walked out from behind the shelf looking for his friends, only to see the man with the blunderbuss and a large sword at his side.

"Ha, they always fall for that one!" The man yelled, running towards Leo as he leveled his gun.

Leo dove behind another shelf that held more antiques as he thought of a battle plan, while trying to avoid and his friends' voices. He caught a glimpse of the man in front of the shelf Leo was hiding behind, he used all of his might to push the heavy wooden shelf over onto the man; effectively knocking him down.

As Leo ran through the store to the door he saw the man's hat had been knocked off to reveal a single giant blue eye on his face.

"Leo Valdez! I would have made your death swift! But now you'll suffer, along with your friends!" The cyclops yelled as he struggled to push the heavy shelf off of him.

"What? No 'Thank you! Come again!'?" Leo retorted as he ran towards the door and out of the antique store.

_A cyclops! Just my luck!_

_You should have killed him, painfully._

_What is wrong with you? _

Leo was down the street and could still hear the curses and vows for revenge from the cyclops, the lonely mechanic made his way deeper into the city for a place to stay for a few nights; unaware of the cyclops calling someone for help.

~~~~~~~~~~_End Flashback~~~~~~~~~~_

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**(A/N) Okay so here is this chapter, it took me FOREVER to write. I have my main ideas plotted, it's just getting the middle that is hard for me for some reason. Been dealing with some stuff, summer school, moving to Florida, reading other Fanfics and the Kane Chronicles and a ton of other crap y'all don't care about. I was wondering how I was going to tell what happened to Leo (was going to do a "Memory Viewer" but decided to stick with the classic story telling and flashback thing). Also wanted to throw in that this story will jump back and forth between past and present, there will be some action in between him telling his story. Sorry for the slight cliffy at the end, I couldn't think of any possible way to end without a slight cliffhanger, next chapter will be leading up to Nyssa's dream and how he got to that point. Also wanted to ask, would you like me to throw in his friends' reactions as he tells the story? Or keep it so that the flashbacks are seperate from the present? (If that makes ANY sense?). Y'all know how forgetful I am so I'm just going to end it here and say THANK YOU SO MUCH! This story has taken off and gotten way more reception than I anticipated! I love all yo faces! (going to respond to some reviews now!)**

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**The Lollipop Assassin: Can't tell if sarcasm or not...**

**Aqua468: Yea, I thought so too. I can't see Leo having a kid, only the "adopted son" thing he has going with Matt right now.**

**SuperSizedMcShizzleGirl: Not sure if you crying means I did a good job or if I did a bad one! I'm not sure if I want you crying or not while reading this! **

**courtara: I have no idea why I added the cream soda, just thought it would be a fun thing to put in with Matt. **

**To everyone who has reviewed, favorited, followed...THANK YOU SO MUCH! Not sure I would have continued this story if you hadn't shown me it was good. Again, hopefully this chapter lived up to expectations! Let me know if you have any suggestions or something similar (in a private message of course). **

**Love all yo faces!**


	7. The Factory

**(A/N) Please help me in the quest to find typos! I've read this one so many times everything is a blur! Thank you in advance!**

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Leo paused for a moment to look at the faces of his old friends after telling just the beginning of his tale.

Annabeth had a calculating look, like she usually did in these situations, as she analyzed every detail and description Leo gave them. Luckily they couldn't hear his thoughts back then or they would worry; more than they did before. They'd think he was crazy, they'd try to help him...he didn't need help. He was fine with being alone, with being a lonely repair-boy.

Percy had a mixture of emotions, he looked as if he wasn't paying attention but he always did. He looked like he was worried, proud, sympathetic, and some other emotion...Leo couldn't pin it down yet.

Piper was listening intently, wanting to know where her friend had been all these years, the same as Jason. Frank had an arm placed protectively around Hazel as they listened, commenting silently to themselves as well as providing their theories on where the object came from as Leo told of the antique shop and the monster.

Reyna looked peaceful, like a person being painted, her dark brown eyes looked deep into Leo's; trying to read past the mechanic's cool face. Ron, Izzy, and Matt all looked passive as they had known Leo for a long time and were worried about what had happened to him but they were also amazed at how Leo handled situations; they had only heard myths from the other orphans about what Leo had done.

_They are already worried to the max, and it's just the beginning..._

_They aren't worried, they are just waiting to tell you that you're making it up. How your imagination is going wild and how you are looking for attention...pathetic._

_What are you doing here?_

Leo was stunned, he thought the voice had disappeared from his mind so long ago. The fact that it was back brought an uneasy feeling to his stomach; especially after how their last conversation ended. He had had time to think about the voice in his free time and had figured out it's origin, he was not thrilled to find out to who the voice belonged to. He preferred to think he was insane than know the truth, if she could do that to him at a distance then he was frightened at what she would do in person.

"Um...Leo?" Izzy asked, noticing her mentor in deep thought and thus interrupted his train of thought.

"Oh, um sorry. Just...just thinking about something." Leo said, looking warmly at Izzy. He had a soft spot for her, she kept her friends together as she was the voice of reason when Matt and Ron would argue or fight.

"What happened after the antique shop?" Matt asked, completely intrigued in his father's tale.

"Yea, um the antique shop. Um let me think, ah yea after I left that place I headed towards an abandoned factory to look for a place to stay and for some tools..." Leo started again, remembering what happened clearly despite it happening so long ago.

_~~~~~~~~~~Flashback~~~~~~~~~~_

Leo walked the sleeping streets of the city, a hood over his baseball cap that he wore, hands tinkering with a small object he thought would come in handy if needed. It looked like a small remote, which it was, but it only had one button on it and he intended to use it only in dire situations. He walked past a dark and dirty alley and was so engrossed in his invention that he failed to notice three large figures rummaging through an overturned dumpster.

The repair-boy kept walking through the city but had the strange sensation that someone was watching him, every time he would turn around no one would be there except for maybe a pizza guy delivering to some house or apartment. Leo wasn't sure where he was going, all he was focusing on was his invention.

He tried to keep his mind off the cyclops and how it mimicked Jason and Piper's voices, he tried to keep his mind off the fact that even though he accepted he was the seventh wheel; he still had hope. Eventually it got near the ungodly hours where the only people awake were the ones looking for trouble so Leo decided to turn in, the first problem was _where_ he would stay. Eventually he found an abandoned factory that was called _"Queen Industries"_.

_As good of a place as any I guess._

_You know, you could stay with your friends. Oh, sorry...you don't have any. _

_Yes I do!_

_Name them..._

Leo Valdez walked up to the factory, why it was abandoned he didn't know, and saw the gate was locked with three chains and each with three locks on them.

"A bit overboard, don't you think?" Leo quietly said to himself as he rubbed his hands together to try and melt the locks away with his fire. He hadn't used his powers in so long, he wondered if they still even worked. The lonely mechanic cleared his mind of everything, focusing only on the warmth he sensed around him; his body, the nearby fire pit that was still smoking as if some homeless people let it burn out, the warmth of her smile...he shook his head as the thought of his previous home entered his mind.

_Just, just clear your head. You can do this._

_No you can't, you're a lighter running on your last bit of fuel._

The lonely mechanic rubbed his hands together faster than before, even blowing hot air on them to try and make sure he could get a flame, and after a few moments it happened. His hands burst into flames, burning intensely as he starred at what he had done. The flames inside of him beckoned to be called forth, wanting to be released from him, but Leo focused and kept the flames from spreading to the rest of his body. Leo moved his burning hands to the first three locks and attempted to increase the intensity of his flame.

_Come on Leo, think warm thoughts. The desert, the sun, a forge, a barbeque, a grill._

_A burning corpse, a burn for revenge, a forest fire that destroys everything in it's path._

Leo imagined everything hot he could think of, willing the flames to increase in intensity but with no such luck. The flames stayed hot but had a warm orange glow about them, as if they were from a dieing fire pit from a campfire.

_Campfire...camp..._

He thought, not noticing what he was thinking of before it was too late. His thoughts of his previous home and the memories that were held there caused the flames on his hands to increase tenfold, turning the locks and chains to ash almost instantly.

_See? Thinking about Camp makes you angry, you should use that to your advantage. Focus your anger, channel it to show them they were the weak ones._

_What are you talking about? This isn't Star Wars! I wasn't even thinking about Camp Half-Blood, just...something else._

Leo Valdez thought to himself, trying to deny the fact that he missed camp already; even though it was miserable there. He walked slowly into the factory, noticing the broken equipment and complexity of the building itself along with the old style of architecture.

He walked onto the main work floor and spotted a nice area to stay for the night, after he worked on the remote a bit of course. He sat there tinkering with the device that could save lives if it got out of control, it was his last safeguard. The last line of defense in a line that was slowly breaking down day by day; no thanks to the Voice.

_Why do you even bother? _

_What do you mean?_

_With that contraption, if you end up using it...I still win._

_This isn't for me._

_Who's it for? Your friends? Oops, sore subject...sorry._

_At least I had friends._

_HAD, being the keyword there Valdez. She was right you know, you'll always be the seventh wheel. The odd man out. The overlooked one. You may think it's because your dependable or reliable but the truth is...your a freak. People fear you, Frank barely talks to you. Hazel does the same, they both are frightened of you and what you could do. Your other 'friends'? They see the truth behind you, a weak demigod who is trying to prove himself a hero._

_Stop it._

_You know the best part in all of this? She doesn't even like you. She despises you with a burning passion; almost as much as Zeus hates Kronos. _

That was the last straw, Leo pushed to hard onto the remote and snapped a piece off; effectively rendering it useless. He stared at the object in his hands, wondering if this was what his life was...a broken piece in an otherwise well oiled machine. He was the one that caused problems on the trip, he was the trouble maker, he was the odd man out. He deserved to be ostracized, cast out from his peers. Anger swelled up in him as he threw the entire object across the room towards a wall, causing the remote to shatter into tiny pieces.

"Best way to make it is to start over..." he quietly said to himself as he walked over to his broken invention. Wondering if the words that just left his mouth meant more than just starting over the project of his, wondering if this remote really did symbolize his life.

_The best way to make it better, is to start over._

His mood brightened at the thought of starting over, also the fact that he spotted a pile of scrap metal might have had a hand his mood rising as well. He immediately dove right into the pile of metal, dividing the useful pieces from the worthless ones and then into smaller piles of importance and of relevance to future projects. It was then that he heard a loud _CLANK_.

He quickly turned around to come face to face to face with three large figures standing above him; one holding a large metal pipe and the other two carrying a large chain of sorts with their large hands. Leo didn't need to know what they wanted, or how they got in here, or how they found him. He just knew he had to leave, so he did a quick look around and spotted the main office; they usually had a small window which he could use for his escape.

"Well…I-I suppose I'll be going now." Leo said as he shot up and ran towards the office room, knocking over anything he could on his way in an attempt to slow down the creatures behind him as they barreled towards the office; right on his tail.

Leo barely got inside just in time to drag the desk to the door, along with a filing cabinet, water cooler, and chair to try and block the creatures from getting inside as he made an attempt to escape their possible plans to kill him. He figured anything would come in handy so he started tinkering with a small trap he could use against the monsters but was soon interrupted by a loud pounding on the door, as if they were knocking.

"Who is it?" He called out, trying to think of other ways to stall them so he could escape.

"Boy, open this door so we can kill you!" A gruff voice replied as it seemed to bang its pipe on the door, Leo could also hear the other two lumbering behind the door as well...suggesting they light the factory on fire.

"Boy-open-this-door-so-we-can-kill-you who?" He quickly, and cleverly, replied as Leo ran to the window to try and open it with a screwdriver from his belt. The banging got louder and louder as he quickly unscrewed the window, the screws falling to the floor as he moved to the next one. Finally, after the last screw fell to the floor and the door was about ready to bust open he opened the window...to reveal that it was barred from the outside. It would take hours to get through them, he had mere seconds at best.

"Well that sucks." He sighed to himself as the door flew from its hinges, landing with a loud crash on the opposite wall and revealing the three figures as they stood in the doorway.

"If you wanted in, you could have just knocked..." Leo said as the larger one with a pipe came running towards him and bonking him hard on the head with the blunt weapon. The other two immediately hobbled over to the unconscious boy and started restraining him with the chains they carried.

"This is the one she mentioned, we shall be greatly rewarded." The apparent leader said with a voice like nails on a chalkboard, as he picked up the unconscious mechanic and flung him over his shoulder.

The runt of the trio grumbled a question towards the leader as they walked out of the factory, "Yorgos, where are we taking this one?" He asked as he licked his lips, eager for another meal.

"This one is special, he's going to the coliseum." Yorgos answered as the trio of cyclops walked down the streets of the sleeping city towards the coliseum.

___~~~~~~~~~~End Flashback~~~~~~~~~~_

Leo paused in his storytelling, unwillingly as he was interrupted by his old and new friends' shouts of anger.

"I'm so going to kill those things!" Hazel said, Frank nodding in agreement.

"I'll send them to the Mariana Trench for what they did!" Percy screamed, anger flashing through his green eyes as Annabeth but a hand on his shoulder to calm him down.

"Nothing we can do now Percy, it's already happened. All we can do is listen and accept it." She said soothingly, effectively calming Percy down...just slightly though.

Piper and Jason on the other hand were looking at Leo with worried expressions, they had been through so much and they felt it was unfair for Leo to go through more while they were living happy lives. Getting married, starting businesses...planning to have a kid.

"Are you okay Leo?" Piper asked, putting a hand on Leo's in a comforting way.

"Of course I'm okay, I'm always okay. I'm the King of Okay." Leo reluctantly smiled at his oldest friend, old memories rushing through his head.

"That's a terrible title Leo." Jason said, though one could tell he was worried about his best friend.

"That's not what I meant Leo...are you okay?" Piper asked, Leo didn't understand what she meant until after a few seconds. She was wondering if he was okay emotionally and mentally, about seeing them all again after all these years, after being on his own for so long.

Leo felt a strange wave of resentment run through him, who was she to question if he was okay? Who were they to get worked up over a story, over what he had been through? They never cared before, why would they start now?

___That's good Leo, think more like that and I'll forget our previous conversation..._

Leo stared at his friends and felt terrified at the return of the Voice, especially at what it planned to do with his friends that left him. No one deserved to have that done to them, he needed to tell someone about the Voice. The only person he ever told was long gone, lost in battle and the escape. He needed to tell his friends, to try and protect them.

"No Piper...I'm not okay..." Leo said quietly, wondering if telling them would be a good decision or ultimately lead to their downfall.

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**(A/N) Okay first things first, HOLY CRAP I LOVE YOU ALL! Even after not updating this story in a long time I am still getting reviews, views, favorites, and followers. I'm just really happy right now, I can't even explain it! It took me the entire month to write this bad boy, I had an extreme case of writers block and was only able to put out the beginning of a new story "After the End" (which I think will be a good one, so you should check it out). I think I have a pretty good idea where I'm going with this story, I buffed out some more plot (and a twist or two in there, if I decide to keep them). Still some parts I'm a bit fuzzy on but I'll work it out! Hope you have all noticed that Leo has a Voice inside his head, he's already figured out who it is. Have you? Because if you have you are a genius, I've just come up with who it is and it works out pretty well! Let me know if you have any suggestions for the story at all! I'd love to read them and consider them! It's official (not sure if I mentioned it last chapter or not) but I'm moving to Florida. We just have to find the right house so sorry in advanced if I don't update as fast as I possibly can. I'll be busy getting adjusted to the new life and whatnot. Usually this is where I put how "i've been having a tough time" and stuff like that but life's been looking up for me recently. I used to rely on being in a depressed mood to right these chapters, which might have helped a bit, but I wrote this one (at least the last 75%) in a relatively good mood (also at 2am). Again, you all know how forgetful I am in putting stuff down here so I just want to say THANK YOU again! Please continue to leave reviews, show support, and don't forget to be awesome! Hopefully this lived up to the expectations y'all have in your heads, I'm trying to keep the quality as best as possible but I can only do so much. Below I shall respond to the reviews as I see fit (I missed some last chapter so those will go here as well). **

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**WELCOME TO REVIEW RESPONSES WHERE I RESPOND TO REVIEWS AND THE POINTS DON'T MATTER! **

**Enigma (missed this one): I'm not sure what you were going for but 1 billion points for a creative review! Brought up some really good points in why most people like Leo. Thanks again for the review! **

**Hitomi Hozuki (missed this one): Yea, they are in one of Leo's sort of "orphanage" that he has set up near Camp Half Blood (more will be explained on that later, I pwomise). The more I write this story, the more I slip in possible Leyna moments. I'm trying to decide to slip in some official Leyna in there, I'm going to make a poll for this right now! And don't worry, your thoughts weren't that hard to follow! Thanks for the review! 7 points for being awesome! **

**paradiseisland101: Thanks! Glad it ended up being good to you! -100 points for being amazing**

**Percylia22: It shall be explained later in the story, but it'll only get worse from here...MWA HA HA! +.00004 points for my vague answer/response**

**courtara: I never read the HG so I'm going to assume that the reference you made is a good one! +108 points for having a name that reminds me of Cortana from Halo for some reason...**

**ThalicoXTratieFan4Ever: Glad I surprised you! +99 points for dat name.**

**fluddershy: Thanks! I never thought about having him tell how his mom died, I'll work that in now! +69 points for suggesting something!**

**Lmb111514: Thank you so much! Glad to know you liked it! + 1 point for making me happy**

**xXTheDragonRiderXx: Maybe? Maybe not. You'll have to vote in the poll if on my profile if you want it to happen! -37 points for riding dragons illegally.**

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**Now that I'm done filling my insanely small ego, I'd like to say THANK YOU one last time. You all get 13 points for being amazing "fans?", "followers?", "readers?", whatever. You're all amazing and I LOVE ALL YO FACES! Will try to update ASAP. **


	8. The Prophecy

**Please help in my quest for typos! Also, I tried to get this out super hard today since "Sea of Monsters" came out today! Even though I didn't like the first one (understatement) I'm going to give this one a chance! Love yo faces!**

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Leo stared at his friends and felt terrified at the return of the Voice, especially at what it planned to do with his friends that left him. No one deserved to have that done to them, he needed to tell someone about the Voice. The only person he ever told was long gone, lost in battle and the escape. He needed to tell his friends, to try and protect them.

"No Piper...I'm not okay..." Leo said quietly, wondering if telling them would be a good decision or ultimately lead to their downfall.

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Before Leo could finish his confession Frank spoke up loudly, which was a change from his usual quiet voice, "Uh sorry to interrupt everyone but Hazel and I have an announcement to make we uh..." It was obvious Frank still wasn't used to having all the attention on him as he clammed up when everyone directed their eyes towards the Son of Mars as he was at a loss of words from being so nervous; luckily Hazel finished for him as she was used to Frank being nervous at being the center of attention.

"We're having a baby!" Hazel finished for Frank, both looking full of joy and happiness as Hazel through her arms in the air in excitement.

"I had my suspicions." Reyna commented lightly, grinning at the soon to be parents. Piper squealed a bit at the announcement and beamed at Frank and Hazel while everyone else congratulated them and smiled; happy that their friends were going to be parents.

"Oh my gods! How long have you known? How far along are you? What's its name? Is it a boy or a girl? Can I be the godmother?" Piper shot question after question at the couple, her thoughts already swarming with ideas for the baby shower; which were interrupted by Hazel shushing her.

"Shush Piper. We don't know if it's a boy or a girl, just a couple weeks, just a couple weeks as well since we planned it, and of course you'll be the godmother!" Hazel answered all of Piper's questions with the same speed.

"What made you decide to tell us now? Why not sooner?" Annabeth asked, sounding a bit betrayed that they wouldn't share their news with her but she was happy for the most part.

"We uh, we didn't want to get our hopes up. Plus, what better a time than with all of us back together?" Frank said as he kissed Hazel on the cheek and she smiled brightly at Annabeth.

Everyone continued to congratulate the couple, even the orphans that lived at the hotel, while Leo sank back into his seat as he lost the momentum to confess.

_You're lucky you didn't get to talk, if you would have..._

The Voice let the threat hang in Leo's head, letting him fill in the blanks. If the Voice was returning after all this time, he knew it was not yet finished with him...or if it even started its plan in the first place. He had spent so much of his time researching everything about Greek and Roman mythology to try and find the source of the Voice. Eventually he came up with no known suspects, those that were alive at least, so he resulted to reading some other text. He started reading all he could about the mind and psychology, trying to determine if he was in fact crazy from...his experiences over the sea in Rome and Greece.

He set his thoughts aside from the Voice and focused on what has happening now, Hazel was holding her hand to her stomach like a natural mother would as she talked animatedly to everyone around her about her knew baby. When they first met, Leo had to admit that he had feelings for her. Who wouldn't? She was beautiful, young, smart, funny, she was everything Leo wanted in a girl, and more. After he figured out she was dating Frank, he tried to steer clear from her without seeming like it was on purpose so he wouldn't hurt her feelings. When they went on the journey with Echo and Narcissus his feelings grew as they stood on top of the rock, holding hands and looking at the landscape, but shoved them deep inside to not add more drama to the trouble they already had to deal with.

After they had their "blast from the past" with Sammy, Leo figured their awkwardness would go away but he found he was even more awkward around Hazel more than ever. He wanted to confront her but with the giants attacking and Percy and Annabeth falling into Tartarus he found himself putting his feelings aside to keep the group together and in high spirits. He figured it didn't help to think of Hazel that way in the first place, he was just a lowly mechanic after all and Frank was the Son of Mars with fantastic shape-shifting powers. How could he find love in Hazel compared to Frank? How could he find love in anyone?

Leo was jolted out of his thoughts by everyone quieting down and looking at Leo with a mixture of emotions. Some were of worry, as if they were saying why he wasn't happy for Hazel. The others were happy, glad to have more good news today. Who were they to say he wasn't happy? He left to be happy, how do they know he isn't happy? How does he? Why do they get to form a family, form better relationships, live their lives together in happiness while Leo didn't? Why couldn't it be Leo announcing he was having a kid? Of course he had the orphans and Matt, whom he still needed to talk to, but it wasn't the same. Why couldn't he be the one getting married? Or getting a promotion in his job? Or have _anything_ remotely happy happen to him?

"Uh Leo, you okay?" Jason asked, leaning forward a bit as he glanced at Piper.

"Wha-oh yea, yea I'm fine Sparky. Good on ya Frank, I'm glad you lucky kids are having some of your own. Just name twelve of them after me, okay?" Leo said with a forced smile on his face as he looked towards the happy couple.

"Sorry for the interruption Leo, what were you going to say?" Piper asked sweetly, her happiness and concern radiating around the room, reaching each and every person. Leo awkwardly looked back at her and rubbed the back of his neck, trying to find the words in his mouth.

_Speak, and my plans will commence faster than you could say "Cookie." _

Leo was again at a loss of words, he was conflicted on telling his friends that they might be in danger but telling them _would_ put them in danger.

"Oh, ah it's nothing Pipes. It can wait." Leo blew off the question with ease as he looked into her kaleidoscope eyes, trying to remove all doubt from her, "So are you guys ready to hear the rest?" He asked, adjusting his position in his seat to a more comfortable one. The group all nodded with worry flashing through some of their eyes, noticing how strange Leo was acting since they last met.

"So, uh I was uh...oh right, I was knocked out in the factory..." Leo started his journey's story again, trying to create a mental image of his adventure in everyone's mind.

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_~~~~~~~~~~Flashback~~~~~~~~~~_

Leo awoke to the sound of chains rattling against hard stone. When he opened his eyes he was surprised to see a rather dark area with only a small flickering light coming from behind him. He was on the cold hard floor, similar to stone that wasn't quite smoothed correctly, and facing a wall of identical to the material in front of him.

The atmosphere of the apparent room Leo was occupying was cold and damp with the faint sound of water dripping onto stone. When the lonely mechanic turned around to look for the source of the light he saw the rest of his newly given living area. A small blanket was on the floor near the left wall with a small sorry excuse for a pillow, where the light was there stood a large wall of solid black bars with a torch flickering on the opposite wall of the entrance to Leo's room. On the right wall there was the same stony material but with a small opening that looked like it was hit with a sledgehammer a couple times, barely large enough to fit anything larger than a basketball into. On the floor near the entrance to his cell, there was a small tray with a minuscule piece of bread and a small glass of water sitting there in all of its magnificent glory.

Leo tried to stand up but realized his legs were wobbly from not standing for quite some time, so he resorted to scooting his body over to the small meal as he prepared to eat after what felt like days. Just as he was about to dig into his meal meant for kings, a feminine voice with a slight Scottish accent echoed throughout his small cell.

"Oi you, 'bout time you woke up. I thought you were dead after so long." The voice said from behind the wall with the hole in it.

"Wha-where are you?" Leo croaked out, taking a small sip of his water to try and rid his mouth and throat of the dry feeling of not talking in a couple days.

"Best not waste your meal, you'll need it soon." She said again, hoping to help the lonely mechanic in surviving.

Leo slid his tray of bread towards the opening in the hole and scooted his own body towards the opening, putting his back to the hard stone as he rested the cup of water on the tray next to him.

Leo looked into the hole in the wall to see a teenage girl with her blonde hair falling to her shoulders. She looked as though she had been through the Underworld and back again with intense gray eyes and a soft face with black smudges and a small cut above her eyebrow. The girl looked like your regular Mid-Western blonde teenager in her junior year of high-school, only she looked like she had fought Kronos herself; though Leo still found her beautiful. He saw how beautiful she was now and he could only imagine how gorgeous she would have been if she wasn't in this cell with him.

"Nice to meet ya! I'm Julia, Julia Servont." She politely said as she stuck her small feminine hand through the opening. Leo took Julia's hand in his and they shook hands while he smiled warmly at her, glad to see someone new that was nice to him after all this time. Not that anyone was really mean to him, he was just relieved to be noticed and loved the fact that she wanted to talk to him instead of the other way around. Plus, it might have helped that she was insanely gorgeous in the lonely mechanic's eyes.

_Oh please, not you and your love seeking again..._

_There's always a chance._

_Not for you there isn't, it was over for you before it even started._

"I'm Leo, Val-" He stopped before he could finish his last name, unsure of the fact that if he told her his last name if she would treat him like his other friends did, "Valderrama. Leo Valderrama." He caught himself as he thought of the quickest last name that started with the letters 'VAL' as fast as he could.

"Like the actor?" Julia asked as she furrowed her eyebrows, becoming suspicious of the mechanic's false name.

"Uh who?" Leo silently cursed himself for choosing a famous person's last name, hoping Julia would drop the subject of his name. Julia looked at him questioningly for a moment before shrugging and looking ahead as she nibbled on a small piece of bread.

"Who's your parent?" She asked Leo as she rested the back of her head on the wall behind her.

"Maria..." Leo answered cautiously, wondering why she wanted to know his parent.

"Ha, I mean your _godly_ parent, Leo." She smiled after chuckling a bit, then clutching her side as if it hurt to chuckle.

"You're a demigod?" He asked, before he remembered how he exactly arrived at his cell.

"Well duh doofus! Mine is Athena, wisdom goddess and all that stuff." She said, throwing her arms in mock frustration.

"Oh, mine's Hephaestus, god of awesomeness and apparently god of being trapped in a cell with beautiful women." the lonely mechanic smiled at Julia, whom blushed in response. As she was about to comment back, large foot steps could be heard down the stone hallway as large shadows could be seen dancing on the walls which caused Julia to change her facial expression instantly, to one of determination as she clenched her teeth.

"Go to the other wall and sit there, don't speak and don't make a sound." Julia ordered as she struggled to stand up and walk towards her set of bars. Leo quickly made his way to the other wall and instantly went silent, trying to catch any information as to what was going on.

"Mhm, your...battle...Yorgos." Leo could only manage to hear part of what the other voice said, it sounded like a large slab of concrete being pulled across broken glass. As the voice finished, Leo heard the sound of a lock clicking, Julia apparently being ushered roughly out of her cell, and then the jail door slamming shut. As their footsteps faded down the hallway Leo pulled his knees to his chest as he let the events that recently occurred come crashing down on him.

He thought of his memories back at camp, the moment he first learned he was a demigod and how he felt like he actually fit in for once. He had a family, the biggest one he had ever seen, and he had friends that would always be there for him. He thought of his possible life he could have had with Her, the way he could have lived. He could have become a leader, he could have had children in New Rome. But instead he was here...in a dark cell, listening to the roar of what sounded like a stadium of monsters in the distance.

_Don't be sad Leo...you still have me. I'll always be here..._

_Stop it. Just...stop._

Leo thought of how those memories at camp were just that, memories. He remembered his friends turning on him when he was possessed and fired upon Camp Jupiter. He remembered how quickly his family disregarded him after he finished his quest, he was the least important of the Seven...even after all he did. He was then filled with doubt of if he could even talk to Her in the first place, wondering if she felt the same way he did; wondering if she even noticed him. He thought of how every person he ever seemed to care about left him in some form, either making him feel left out, dying, or falling for someone else. He thought of how everyone no longer wanted to spend time with him, only use him...like the gods used demigods to do their dirty work.

_Good...now you understand._

_No, I didn't-I didn't mean it like that..._

For the first time in ages, the lonely mechanic sat down with his knees to his chest and cried. He cried for everything he had done, feeling as though it was all his doing in some strange way. He felt he was the reason everyone felt the way they did, responsible for their actions, responsible for only the bad and never the good, he felt it was his fault he was the seventh wheel; as if he could stop himself from being left out. Then his thoughts drifted to his mother, probably the only person who ever cared for the repair boy unconditionally, and how he had killed her. How he took all that love and affection from her, and threw it in her face by killing her.

Even to this day he felt responsible...responsible for everything. He was, after all, the mechanic. He was meant to fix everything; everyone's problems, everyone's mistakes, his own messes he had created but no one ever did the same for him. No one helped the lonely mechanic in his quest to fix everything, in his quest for making sure everyone was okay and happy; while he was the opposite. The lonely mechanic sat in his new home of stone and hopelessness and cried himself to sleep to the sound of the distant roar of a crowd.

Leo's dreams were never as bad as the one he had that first night in his cell, that night in his cell that turned his life into one long night; the dream that would be burned into his memory for nights to come.

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***Leo's Dream***

Leo was standing in the middle of Camp Half-Blood, devoid of all life, as ash rained down from the heavens. The cabins were destroyed with small fires still burning, the Big House in ruin as if it caved in on itself, and the nature of the camp dying as if none of the plants had had water in years.

Leo walked towards the cabins reluctantly, knowing he would not be able to fight the force pulling him in his dream, where he stopped in front of the Hephaestus cabin. It's metal walls stained from the smoke and ash but it stood in the best condition; despite the caving roof and door thrown off it's hinges. As Leo watched the cabins and Big House turn to dust in front of him, along with the Hephaestus cabin at a much slower rate, he witnessed the same woman he saw so long ago walk out of the ash and rubble. She looked like she hadn't aged at all, with her red curly hair just as wild and the freckles just as prominent on her face. She walked forward in her once white gown that was now splattered with paint and paused as she looked at the lonely mechanic, then the green smoke came; just as before. Her voice changed from her usual feminine one to that of a millennium old voice, so wise yet so hoarse and tired.

"_The Seventh Wheel shall roll away / They will search but to their dismay"_ The voice from the girl started saying, only for the girl to change into the repair boy's mother. Still just as beautiful in her grease covered suspenders, a wrench in her pocket, and her long black hair lightly blowing in the wind as she spoke in the same hoarse voice. Leo's eyes started to water as he saw his mom one more time, still feeling like he owed her his life and then more. Even though he wasn't in control, he still thought he could have fought Gaia in killing his mom. It was his responsibility to control his powers and he failed when his mom needed him most.

"_It will remain hidden for six long years / Despite it's doubts of it's faithless peers" _Just as before, Leo's mom changed form into the last person he wanted to see...Nemesis. Still just as he remembered, resembling a biker chick with leather jacket and piercings. He felt resentment rise inside his body towards the goddess, this was all her fault. It was her fault he was the outcast, forgotten and lost in the wind by his peers. Then the resentment washed away from him like the tide pulling away from the beach back towards the rest of the ocean. Was this really her fault? Was it his? He did open the fortune cookie, he could have found another way. He could have done something else, _anything_ else. He was the problem, the broken piece in an otherwise well oiled machine.

"_They'll locate the Wheel and join together / for one last quest, and fight it's aggressor" _Nemesis then changed into the form of Her. Her brown hair falling just past the middle of her back in a single braid, her dark piercing brown eyes looked directly at Leo. Even in this dream, she seemed so tranquil and regal like a praetor should be. Leo tried to call her name, he tried to tell her how he felt. He was tired of bottling up his emotions and he just wanted it to get out there, to be free like a caged animal being released for the first time in it's life. Despite his efforts, the repair boy was unable to speak or voice his feelings; he was only a silent viewer in his own dream.

"_It will make a choice to end the grief / With a high cost, near the deepest reef." _Reyna finished the prophecy in the same voice Leo heard just before he left Camp Half-Blood for what felt like ages ago.

Reyna's eyes bore directly into Leo's, almost wishing to tell him something but unable to. Her form then shimmered back into the red haired girl, the one who spoke the exact prophecy to Leo so long ago. They were just passing by each other on the beach, the only people near the sandy place, when she looked directly at Leo and spoke the exact same words. He was too caught up in self pity and depression to pay any attention to the prophecy so he had forgotten it after all these years, only to have them thrust back into his brain again. The ginger girl's image then flickered as the wind picked up, like flower petals in the wind, as the entire camp was finally reduced to ash and dust. The repair boy was then brought to what appeared to be the lake, only it was evaporating into a cloud of water vapor just above him, as a dark voice spoke.

"Poor boy, still trying after all this time. Did you truly believe we were done with you?" The lake was now barren, with only water creatures flopping for water on the once lake floor, "There's still much to do..." then the lake creatures all burnt to a crisp as if the sun had touched down on just this one spot, disintegrating everything it could see. Leo looked down and picked up a purple piece of cloth, he turned it over in his hands to see SPQR written in golden letters only to have it turn to ash just like everything else around him.

***End Leo's Dream***

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Leo awoke from his dream in a cold sweat, not fully understanding what his dream held but the prophecy was now burned into his memory forever.

_The Seventh Wheel shall roll away._

_They will search but to their dismay,_

_it will remain hidden for six long years._

_Despite it's doubts of it's faithless peers,_

_they'll locate the Wheel and join together_

_for one last quest, and fight it's aggressor._

_It will make a choice to end the grief_

_with a high cost, near the deepest reef._

~~~~~~~~~~End Flashback~~~~~~~~~~

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Leo was interrupted from his tale as Piper put her hand on his and looked at him with sympathy. Jason's jaw tightened as he looked with worry towards his friend, they were the only ones who knew what happened to Leo's mom and understood the grief he had been through. He didn't deserve to have the weight of the world on his shoulders while they lived happily ever after. Leo looked towards Piper with eyes full of sadness and depression, Leo asking Piper a silent question that she understood perfectly. After a moment's pause, she nodded her head slightly and smiled warmly at Leo, telling him it was okay and they were all there for him.

The lonely mechanic sighed, composing himself for the task to come as he turned his attention to his other friends.

"I, uh, I have to tell you guys something about..." he paused as he looked into the face of his life long friends, wondering what they were thinking, "..about my mom."

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**(A/N) Well there's that chapter! Sorry for not updating but it honestly takes quite a bit of time to write these chapters, every time I try and sit down and force myself to write it becomes terrible. So I take breaks and let the ideas build up inside me _then_ I decide to write. So yea, sorry it took about three weeks but I was in fact working on this the whole time. I was refining, buffing out some plot, trying to gather some facts so I don't make myself look stupid by messing up something and contradicting the books. Anyways, been feeling pretty down lately which is why I wrote this chapter (probably 80% at least) in about one night while listening to one song for about 2 hours. I was listening to "Brand New Day" from the 's Sing-A-Long Blog soundtrack, I recommend watching the movie (you can find it on youtube, it's only 40 minutes long) as it's just a really good musical full of heart and feels. Anyways, enough about my battle with depression (which runs in my family, hard for me to say it but you've read this story and my ANs so I assume you kind of guessed it), time to talk about the chapter! This is probably the only chapter (besides maybe the first one) that really hit me hard, emotionally that is. It mainly hit me when he was dreaming, which is most of this chapter, when he saw the women who had the most effect on his life so far. Hopefully this chapter was up to the standards I have set so far, basically: I hope it lived up to your expectations. And I'll try and work on the next chapter ASAP but I'll be moving within the next week and a half so I don't know how much writing I'll be able to do but I'll shoot for getting one more chapter out before I move. So yea, y'all know how forgetful I am when it comes to these so let's go on to responding to reviews!**

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**Hello and welcome to Reviewer Responding! Where I respond to your stuff and the points don't matter! That's right, they are just like the nutritional facts on a happy meal..they just don't matter.**

**percabeth fan extraodinare: (might want to check the spelling on that one, just saying). Anyways, thanks for the review! I tried really hard to tap into my inner Leo, which isn't hard since I think we are so much alike in so many ways it's scary. +0 points for spelling and for that percabeth ship.**

**Angel of Darkness will get you: I was really taken back when I read your review, I really love it when people say that they like my writing and my story. Though I'm not sure if I want the Angel of Darkness to come and get me...unless it's a woman; then I'm fine with it. I've already decided on putting some more Leyna in here since most people voted for "I don't care" in the poll! Glad you liked the story and that you love me (call me). +500 Points for the love and for possibly sending a feminine Angel of Darkness at me.**

**courtara: love reading your reviews! Glad you liked the chapter, I really don't shoot for making this story emotional. The main focus is on friendship (at least that's what I tell myself) and the struggles people go through with depression and sadness. Pretty clever huh? Just made that up right now! Anyways, don't say you aren't "intelligent"! I'm sure you are! I just haven't given that many clues as to who/what the Voice could be! And don't worry, the Hunger Games is on my To-Read list! +42 points for being awesome and all around amazing!**

**The Librarian and Ikeea (I put you into one since I'm lazy, ha): Ikeea, yea I thought it was away from Leo to have a son as well; would have been weird. #TeamLeo (I use that ironically, don't worry.) Librarian, thanks! I try to stay true to Rick's original Leo character but of course I have to alter _some_ things when it comes to him but for the most part I stay true to the original books and character I think! Yea, that was a reference to the song "Little Talks" in the beginning, I love that song so much and thought it would be nice to slip that in! Good eye! Also, your latest review was one of the reasons I tried my extra-super-duper-hardest to get this chapter out. +1 million points for accepting the fact that I'm lazy.**

**Guest: Yea, Leo is my favorite character from the books hands down. I also like Nico, the two are tied I guess for me. Things get tough, I mean look at what I put Leo through! He's depressed, sad, forgotten and everything else but just stay strong. I go through the same things, I have my fair share of good and bad days (bad more than good) but "just keep swimming"! It helps to try new things and get out of any possible rut you have, meet new people, do crazy stuff, but know that you're not alone. There will always be people to help you no matter what! I recently told some friends that I suffer from depression and to be honest, I'm scared of what they think of me now but I know they'll be there for me when I have a bad day. I love yo face so much right now, I think I just broke my computer from all the love. + 7 billion points for being amazing, awesome, and for being a Guest (how original).**

**amasongrain: yea I'm alive! Been really busy with stuff and thangz but I keep moving forward! Hopefully you liked this chapter and the next few (queue uneasy music) - 1 point for the music choice!**

**fluddershy: Good lord, I read those questions like a machine gun getting shot at me! xD Hopefully you'll get to see everyone's reactions the next few chapters some more! Yea, I adore Nico. He's my 2nd favorite character, first is Leo all the way! Oh yea, I ship Leyna so hard. Favorite shipping would have to be either Percabeth (I'm a sucker for classics), Leyna (love them), or Octachel (friend ships it and I can see how funny it would be with so much sass and love). Least favorite would be anything male/male. I'm all for gay rights and everything, but I don't read that stuff so...yea. Not my cup of tea I guess, to each their own. The voice may be Gaea, it's not Khione though, may be someone/something else! Mwa ha ha, vague answers! +31 points for the name, being amazing, and for the questions!**

**TheWeirdestMuse: I gotta say this got to me a bit, as easy as it may seem...it takes quite a bit of effort to write this. I mainly write this story when I'm not feeling the greatest, which may help with Leo's thoughts, but I do try at all times. I proofread so much that the words blend together. I go over the plot so much that I need to take breaks from reading/writing. So it is pretty dificult to pump out a chapter that y'all will enjoy (and that I'm happy with), so please don't say "it can't be that hard". Though I do like that you enjoy the story so much! + 54 points for enthusiasm and impatience! **

**Tazmaster: Well I'm just happy you found the story! I'm glad you like it so far! I can say for a fact that the voice isn't Hera (he is her savior after all), but I can't say for certain that it is/isn't Gaia. Not sure if it's good people are getting so emotional over this story, I guess it's a good sign that my writing is good. Thanks for the review! - 68.9 points for not finding the story sooner, and for being too awesome for Earth to take.**

**Thalicoforever3.14: Thanks for the catch, updated that! Great name be tee dubs! -3.14 because pie and for catching my mistake!**

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**Just in case anyone gets offended or mad at my comments, just let me say this. I'm a joker at heart, I'm very sarcastic but I do appreciate everyone reviewing and reading this story! Also I just want to say "Thanks" one more time. Y'all are so supportive and loving and just all around awesome! Not sure I would have continued this story without you all! Just going to say that you're all amazing and I love yo faces to death right now. No really, I think my keyboard just bro-iajsdfj;adf. Will try to update ASAP and you all get 1 point for being the greatest people on Earth! Don't forget to be awesome!**


	9. The Nightmare

**(A/N) Please help in my quest for typos or anything similar to that! I'll give you a cookie! It's baked with love! Also, have a really long chapter because I made y'all wait so long. 3**

* * *

The lonely mechanic sighed, composing himself for the task to come as he turned his attention to his other friends.

"I, uh, I have to tell you guys something about..." he paused as he looked into the face of his life long friends, wondering what they were thinking, "...about my mom."

* * *

The group of friends sat around the partially destroyed table, the table cloth ripped in random places which revealed the mahogany wood that had small scorch marks scattered upon it. Leo's friends sat around the damaged table with their attention directed towards the repair-boy, as he readied himself to talk openly about his mother for the first time in a what seemed like forever.

"I've kept quiet about this for a while and...and I feel like you should know." Leo said, though it seemed it was directed towards the group as a whole it was actually directed towards one person.

"About your mom?" Matt yawned as he adjusted his sitting position, they had been gathered around the table for most of the evening and it was already close to nine at night.

"Yea I uh...I sorta killed her..." Leo said quietly, with his hands interlaced with each other and twirling his thumbs in a small circle around each other while he avoided all eye contact with his fellow demigods. Leo was then greeted with a light smack on the back of the head, which came from Piper as she scolded him a bit.

"Leo...we talked about this." She said, still slightly scolding him for thinking those thoughts again.

_She doesn't know, I did kill her...it was my fault. All my fault. All my fault. All my..._

_You were on the right path back then, why not go back to that again? Despite what they say, they're all scared of you._

_All my fault...my fault..._

_Remember the last person who had fire powers? Now HE was an achiever, but not as strong as you. Imagine what you could do with your power, but look at you now; weak and pathetic._

_My fault..._

"Wait you knew that he killed his own mother!" Annabeth questioned in a yelling tone, as she rose from her chair slightly worried that Leo would kill again; though she was confused how Leo could even kill a person as it wasn't in his nature. Piper sighed as she looked towards Leo, she put a hand on his arm as she motioned for him to explain while bringing him down from his thoughts as well.

"I uh, well it happened when Gaia was asleep when I was young. I...I don't know how but she sort of turned on my fire abilities and I ended up burning down the place where my mom was." The child of Hephaestus said as he put his head in his hands, "The one time she needed me...and I failed. She was the one person who cared for me in my life and I killed her...it was all my fault." Annabeth sat down slowly in her chair, looking with sympathy at the repair-boy.

"Leo I'm...I'm so sorry. But it wasn't your fault, you were young." She said, wishing she wasn't quick to jump to conclusions before hearing the whole thing.

"That was Tellus. That wasn't you, but it's in the past; there's nothing you can do now but accept it. However hard it may be..." Reyna said wisely as she eyed the seventh wheel in a new light, not liking how different he acted now from the carefree hyper kid they knew so long ago.

"Whatever happens, we're glad you told us Leo. We're your friends and we're here to help you, no matter what." Percy said, smiling warmly at the lonely mechanic.

_Yet notice how they didn't correct you when you said your mother was the only person who cared for you. They don't care about you, they simply want Mr. Fix-it back at their precious camp._

_They do care, they just don't say it._

_Oh really, well excuse me but why did you run away? _

_Because I..._

_Because THEY didn't care. Now tell me, do they look like they still do? After everything you've told them, have they once asked why you left in the first place? _

_No...you're right..._

_Of course I am, who's been with you through thick and thin? Who's cared for you? Provided wisdom? Who saved your life and her's during the escape?_

_...y-you._

_That's right._

_But I never asked for you. I didn't want this, I don't want this. _

_I'm here to stay this time, Valdez. Nothing you can do about it now..._

Leo suddenly stood above his friends in his grease covered clothes, hair a wild mess, his face devoid of any emotion, and declared, "It's getting late, we should probably rest for the night."

"Awwww but Mr. Valdez!" Isabel pouted, wanting to hear more of the story; even though she knew it was late.

"You know I don't like you calling me that, and I need you to go get Victoria anyways." Leo said as he started walking towards the door, followed by the group.

"It's...it's happening again? I thought they were done..." Isabel asked, a slight amount of worry to her voice.

"What's happening again?" Frank asked with surprising amounts of interest but was ignored by the two talking in an attempt to silently say that the topic was not to be discussed.

"Just a precaution, I've got a feeling about it. Tell her the full dose this time." The lonely mechanic opened the door and the group of friends and family started walking down the dark halls to the front of the hotel. As they neared the lobby in relative silence, Matt and Ronald went off to their respective rooms while Isabel went to show Leo's old friends their rooms and fetch Victoria. The child of Hephaestus stood in silence in the now deserted and dark hotel lobby, watching the backs of his friends as they walked to their room.

_You're using the full dosage this time? Gettin' worried now are we?_

_I won't have another incident, not like last time._

Leo walked to his room, almost barren and devoid of any evidence someone lived in that hotel room, and stared at the delta symbol on the wall. He pondered pressing it and going to another one of the orphanages he had set up, or to one of his many hideouts he created to escape his new life to work on projects. The Seventh Wheel could roll away from the group again, they didn't know the location of his other homes. He could just escape this whole fiasco for a while, only coming back to this home in times of danger or to check up on it when his old family was not around. He knew they'd stick around and visit, hoping to catch the mechanic again because now they knew of the hotel and had evidence of other ones. Their search would only grow stronger if he left...and he couldn't just abandon his new family here. They needed him, they _wanted_ him. No, it was time to end this search. Time to end all of it, he couldn't keep running. He was tired of running, he'd been running for so long he forgot what he was running from. He'd put off the coming events long enough, now was as good a time as any to face them.

The time flew by quickly as Leo looked at his old designs he had hung on the wall, remembering when he created them and what inspired him to make the inventions. It seemed like it was so long ago that he was just trying to get by in the wilderness school with Piper, it felt like an old story now. He felt so old when in reality he was just barely an adult in mortal eyes, though his friends went on to live happily ever after; he kept living the normal life of a demigod. That meant fighting monsters, saving mortals, nearly dying, and losing someone along the way while they were getting married and working regular jobs.

* * *

"Who's Victoria?" Jason asked as his friends and Isabel walked down a hallway towards their rooms, admiring the finger painting on the walls.

"She's a Hypnos kid, why do you ask?" Isabel said, running her hand along the wall as they walked.

"What's she do for Leo?" Hazel questioned, she couldn't understand how and why a child of Somnus would be involved with her friend.

"Well to be honest I don't really understand it fully, he room's on the way so you can ask her!" Isabel replied excitedly, turning the corner to go towards Victoria's room while Percy leaned close to Annabeth and whispered.

"She is _way_ too happy for me, definitely Apollo's kid." The Child of Poseidon said as Annabeth struggled to contain her laughter, knowing extremely happy people made Percy uncomfortable.

The group arrived at a hotel room that had the numbers '80085' on it, causing the group to stare in confusion.

"Why is her room numbered like that?" Jason asked Isabel, who simply laughed a bit.

"She's got a weird sense of humor, she stole the numbers off of other doors to make that." She said as she knocked on Victoria's door three times. A small "Come in!" followed the knock in a sing song voice that came from the inside of the room. Isabel opened the door to Victoria's room to reveal a teenage girl with long black hair, with a red headband in it, sitting on a desk chair as she scribbled away at some notes with her back the group. Victoria stood up and faced her guests, her surprising light blue eyes examined each person at lightning speed as she tugged lightly on her sundress; which was a nauseating neon yellow. The light from the lamps in her room reflected off her pale face, revealing small circles under her eyes from lack of sleep.

"Howdy, what's up Izzy? Who are y'all?" Victoria spoke with a slight southern accent as she smiled warmly at the new guests.

"These are some of Leo's old friends," Isabel said as Victoria's eyes widened ever so slightly, "but I came to let you know that Leo needs you again. Full dosage..." Isabel asked, sitting on Victoria's dark red comforter on her bed, which clashed with her four walls that were all painted different colors; including the ceiling. One wall was of a light pink, while another was covered in scribbles as it was chalkboard paint, the ceiling was of a sky blue color with small clouds painted around the ceiling fan as if it were the sun, the third wall was painted polka dotted purple on green and the final wall was of a pure white.

"Again? I thought they were over?" Victoria questioned as she went over to a small cabinet on the other side of her room, which held vials of different shapes and sizes with a wide range of colored liquids inside each. She bit her bottom lip for a moment as she looked for the correct vial, upon finding it she tossed it to Isabel who caught it with her right hand expertly.

"He says it's just a precaution, whatever _that_ means. Thanks again, Vic. We'll be heading out now! We should totally go swimming again!" Isabel said as she started for the door, only to hear Jason ask Victoria a question.

"What's in the vial?" He asked, gesturing to Isabel holding the vial that had a dark purple liquid in it.

"Oh um...it's nothing. Just a vitamin vial, helps keep him tough like the growin' boy he is!" Victoria tried to play off the question, obviously not wanting to talk about what she was giving the child of Hephaestus.

"We're just worried about him, Victoria. Please, what does he need that you give him?" Piper asked, not pouring one ounce of charmspeak into her words at all.

"It's a εφιάλτης potion." She answered with a sigh, plopping down onto her desk chair.

"A...a nightmare potion? Why in Hades would he want that?" Annabeth questioned Victoria, glancing at Victoria's notes for a second to see they were of her apparent "sleep and dream studies" she had been conducting.

"It's not what you think though. It rids the person of nightmares when they drink it, though I haven't um...perfected it yet. It's dangerous to drink the whole vial, the full dosage, because it has uh...strange side-effects. Leo's the only person I know who can take the full dosage and not have any side-effects though." She answered, covering her notes up a bit to hide them as she noticed Annabeth glance over at them.

"He...he gets...nightmares?" Hazel asked Victoria and Isabel, both nodded at the same time.

"They can get really bad, but he hasn't had one in a long time. That's why we were surprised he wanted the potion again." Isabel answered for Victoria, who looked like she was about to pass out sleep deprivation.

"Is there anything else you can do for him? I'm sure there's something to get rid of them, if they're as bad as you say they are!" Jason yelled a bit, worrying more and more for his close friend.

"I'm not sure there is, Jason. Victoria looks like she's an expert in this sort of field, she would have found a way by now; I'm sure of it." Reyna spoke up from the back of the group, to which Victoria acknowledged with a nod.

"I've searched everywhere, and yet I've come up with very little. We're lucky we found this potion formula at all; actually." She said to the group, knowing almost everything about sleep and anything related to it.

* * *

After a few more minutes of chatting Isabel hurried the group to their rooms, boys in one room and girls in the one across from them, she then quickly ran to Leo's room to deliver his potion. She arrived at his door, slightly open, and knocked once as she peeked her head inside the room a bit.

"Mr. Valdez?" She whispered into the apparently vacant room. She inched her way into the room a bit more until she was standing in the middle of the room, a small stack of papers thrown on the floor with odd contraptions drawn on them. She bent down to get a closer view of the inventions Leo had made when a surprisingly booming voice caught her off guard and she squeaked in being frightened.

"Isabel?" The male voice wondered as Isabel stood upright and straightened her shirt as she held the vial.

"Don't scare me like that!" She reprimanded Leo, who stood leaning against the door frame with a small smirk on his face.

"Well you _are_ in my room..." He retorted, pushing himself off the door and walking over to the stack of papers; putting them into a small drawer.

"Right. Right..." Isabel quieted a bit, watching Leo put away the notes and drawings away from prying eyes. He turned around with a questioning look, raising one eyebrow in the process as he asked Isabel the obvious question hanging in the air.

"Well...did Victoria give you the thing I asked for?" Leo asked Victoria directly.

"Oh uh yea, sorry. Just...a bit fried I guess. Here ya go!" She dropped the vial into Leo's opened hand, he quickly thanked her and drank the vial in one gulp. The child of Hephaestus continued looking at Isabel with a questioning look, trying to read her emotions as she stood lost in thought.

"A lot to take in, huh?" He asked, sitting on his bed as he patted the spot next to him for Isabel to sit down with him as it was one of the only places to sit in Leo's room.

"It's just...I mean it's..." she sighed deeply as she plopped down onto the bed, making Leo bounce a bit, "Yea. It's more than a lot, I'm understanding and following it though."

"But?" Leo asked if there was something Isabel was holding back a question, nagging at her like a gnat.

"It's...how can you be so nice to them? You told us what happened, and yet...you act like nothing happened." She shot the question out, after thinking a moment and staring at the ceiling. Leo shrugged and thought over the question for a moment, he knew it was coming he just never prepared for it. Why was he acting like nothing happened? Well he wasn't acting like nothing happened, he just was being...indifferent. He was trying to hold back because he knew if his dam broke, it would flood. Emotions would gush out, good and bad, and overflow his thinking while it overwhelmed his old friends. He knew from experience that if he let his guard down for a moment, which is all it needed, he would lose it all. He'd be angry and happy, sad and glad, calm and crazy, a giant emotional cocktail dumped all over the proverbial kitchen floor.

"It happened, I can't change the fact, you can't change the fact and they certainly can't. I forgave them a long time ago. I accepted it after a while. I accepted I'd be alone. Though they may never accept it. There's a saying I heard when I was young, 'We accept the love we think we deserve'. I thought I deserved being used as a tool, tossed aside until I was needed. I thought after what...what happened to mom I deserved to be the outcast. Now...I'm not sure anyone deserves it. Being alone, it changes you. You don't realize it at first or while it's happening, but looking back on it you see how much you've changed from what you used to be or what you wanted to be. Sometimes it can be good, but most of the time...most of the time it's bad. So all I can do is accept that they're here, and accept that they won't give up on me. Just like how I won't give up helping to make sure no one ever feels alone again, because I know what it's like. I'm putting off the moment they ask a similar question to the one you did, because I'm not sure I know how I could handle it." Leo sighed and laid back on his bed, fingers interlaced with each other as he and Isabel stared at the ceiling and talked.

They talked about Leo's past life, Isabel's hopes to become a surgeon or run an orphanage, about what would happen when Leo's friends left, about what would happen if Leo ever left until the potion took effect and pulled Leo into a deep sleep. Isabel did her best to pull the cover from under him and wrap it around him, she tip toed to the door but turned around just before leaving to look at one of the most important people in her life and be grateful she had someone like Leo to watch over her. With a small smile, she flipped off the light switch and closed the door to the Lonely Mechanic's room; leaving him in a peaceful sleep.

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_~~~~~~~~~~Leo's Dream~~~~~~~~~~_

_**WARNING: This is a bit rough, so if you do not like death or killing. Please scroll down to where it ends. Though I think it's a good read, I tried to pour emotion (among other things) into it as best I could.**_

Leo opened his eyes to see himself standing in what appeared to be a valley of ash and rubble, the sun's orange rays barely breaching the veil of smoke that hung over the world around him. He stood in scorched clothes with small armor over that, covering his right shoulder, thighs, shins, and forearms as he watched the last remnants of what stood here before him crumple to the Earth.

_This is only the beginning. Imagine what we can do if you gave into it, let it take hold of you and shape you and morph you into something...something far greater than anything._

Leo watched himself as this other shell of him smirked evilly and erupted into a column of orange flames, a giant fire reaching high towards the skies as the smoke that once hung over him cleared to reveal a destroyed downtown Manhattan. With the fog lifting, Leo could see the true damage this shell of him had done. Demigod, mortal and monster bodies lined the streets, cars on fire and streets cracking from lava rising from below.

_This was only downtown Manhattan, boy. The more you practice, the more you'll see yourself improve and become god like. Soon nothing will stand in our way, you'll take to Olympus itself and usher in a new era._

A bright light engulfed Leo as he was transported to Camp Half-Blood, in ruin. The cabins all but destroyed, the big house on fire and collapsing in on itself, the fields dead and burning while campers struggled to run from a shadowy figure walking calmly through the mayhem. As Leo moved closer he saw it was himself, causing fire to engulf everything he wanted, as he walked towards Poseidon's cabin. He saw Jason's back run into the cabin and slam the door shut behind him. He only assumed his other friends were in there with him, hiding from this...this evil Leo destroying their home. As the shell of the lonely mechanic walked towards the cabin, jet streams of water came from four different directions to try and stop him; with Percy at it's source.

"LEO! STOP THIS! THIS ISN'T YOU!" He yelled over the roar of the evil Leo shooting flames towards the streams, colliding into a giant cloud of steam.

"This was _always_ me. You've all done nothing but disrespect and fear me for something I never thought of doing. I'm only giving you what you wanted. A fire user who craves only chaos." The evil Leo moved both his hands up towards the sky as a wall of flame erupted from the ground and rushed towards the Son of Poseidon. Percy tried in vain as he ran towards his cabin, trying to call upon any water in the vicinity but was soon engulfed in the flames. An ear piercing scream echoed throughout the camp as the famed Son of Poseidon was cooked to a crisp, eventually falling to the ground in defeat. Annabeth had seen the love of her life killed before her very eyes, he had died protecting the ones he loved and she wasn't going to let that be in vain. With tears gushing from her eyes she ran out of the cabin, despite her friends protests and attempts to stop her, with her dagger drawn.

"YOU MONSTER!" She screamed at a smirking Leo, only to quickly put on her Yankee's cap to hide her from the aggressor.

"Me? I'm the monster? You brought this on yourselves. But really, hiding?" Leo said, hoping to bait the Daughter of Athena out of her hiding, only to fail. Suddenly, Leo was grabbed from behind with a dagger to his throat by Annabeth. Tears still flowing from her stormy gray eyes as she struggled to rid the world of the evil she had in her grasp, despite all that had happened she couldn't bring herself to do it. She couldn't kill Leo Valdez.

"Rule number one, never hesitate." Leo said before surrounding his entire body into flames, burning Annabeth and causing her to jump back from the third degree burns forming onto her body. Leo wasted no time in rushing forward with demonic speed to tackle the Architect of Olympus and intensify the flames around his body as he started to burn the Daughter of Athena; more screams echoed throughout Camp Half-Blood as the world lost yet another hero.

Leo, watching the scene from the sidelines, could do nothing but feel tears well up in his eyes. He knew the nightmares were coming again, the nights he watched himself kill his friends, and thought he had stopped them before they started with the potion.

_Oh there's no stopping this now, things are already in motion my little repair-boy. This WILL happen, whether it be tomorrow or the next day or a year. You will kill everyone you've ever loved, and I will have finally won._

Leo watched as his other friends rushed out of the cabin, to see the famous Percy and Annabeth Jackson dead on the ground. Frank was the first to react as he turned into an elephant and rushed Leo, followed by Hazel who pulled rocks out of the ground behind Leo; cutting off any chance of escape. Hazel then ran forward with Piper, sword and dagger drawn, and they followed Frank to attack Leo. Jason flew a bit off the ground to summon lightning from the heavens with all his strength, just as a bolt came down and struck Leo; he smirked and erupted into flames.

The bolt and flames collided to create a blast so fierce it caused Frank to fall back in elephant form and Jason to fall to the ground from his flight. The flames receded back into Leo, causing him to glow a bright mixture of red, orange and yellow as his friends watched paralyzed by fear. The lights coming from Leo soon reached the breaking point as they died down as fast as they rose for a split second, only to blast out in radius from his hands as Leo threw them out from his body. Flames shot forth in a large radius that engulfed everything in their path, including Leo's helpless friends. The flames were so intense that the closest people to him died nearly instantly, Frank and Hazel. Leaving Jason and Piper to suffer for a few more gruesome seconds as they watched their once best friend look down upon them with pure hatred.

"L-Leo..." Piper croaked, nearing the brink of nonexistence as her eyes filled with tears and then...nothing.

Jason had his head turned, hand outstretched in his final moments as he tried to grab hold of the one thing he held dearest; Piper McLean. He watched his love die in front of his very eyes and he could do nothing but watch as he felt himself near death as well, his eyes moved to see the fallen hero standing above him. Their eyes locked for a moment before the life vanished from Jason Grace's eyes, leaving behind nothing in his place.

Jason and Piper McLean were dead along with Frank and Hazel Zhang.

Leo was now in full tears as he watched all of his friends fall by his own hands, he had had dreams similar to this one but none as extreme. None as graphic or emotional...or real.

_The deed is almost done, the clock will strike twelve soon. One more remains, one more stands, one more who hurt you. _

Reyna limped out from the rubble of Athena Cabin, using her sword as a cane, to reveal she was covered in ash, blood, and cuts. She stood for a moment, leaning against her sword for support, and gazed upon the clearing of destruction. So many had been lost already, now her closest friends had been brought down by someone they trusted.

The evil Leo locked eyes with Reyna, a simple nod from her was all he needed to know what he had to do. He walked over to Reyna as she collapsed to the floor, catching her in his arms, as they looked into each others eyes. She moved her hand to hold onto Leo's as she said one of the last things she ever would.

"Please." Leo knew what she was asking, but sat and watched her fade from life slowly instead.

"You don't deserve that." He said as she passed away, standing to be covered in a cloud of smoke and ash as the wind pushed it in front of Leo's view of his evil self.

All Leo could see was darkness, this had been the worst dream he had ever had and hoped it wouldn't get worse. He wasn't sure he would live through another nights sleep if the dreams were going to be like that _with _the potion.

_This is your destiny. It's been written by the Fates, it is inescapable. You will cause the fall of Camp Half-Blood and create the largest amount of deaths in one day in history. You will be etched into stone, you're tale will be told as a scary story by little demigods everywhere, you will achieve greatness where others have failed with your abilities. You cannot change this, you can only delay...even then, it is useless._

_~~~~~~~~~~End Dream~~~~~~~~~~_

* * *

Leo jolted up from his bed in a cold sweat, body shaking from the nightmare he just escaped. He struggled to contain his emotions once more, the images of his friends dying coming to his head again and again.

After changing clothes, brushing his teeth, trying to control his wild hair, and eating something small, he sat at the edge of his bed and stared in front of him. He wasn't thinking of anything particular, his mind had been racing constantly these past few days and he sat there recharging; hiding from the world for a few precious moments in peace. Soon, an hour passed with him thinking of very small things, lyrics to songs, quotes he had heard, and jokes he heard until a knock came from his door; bringing him down from his meditation like state.

"Who is it?" He said hoarsely, having not spoken all morning.

"It's us, can we come in?" He heard Jason say, the lonely mechanic assumed the three children were with them; it was unlikely they would not want to hear the rest of his story. The Child of Hephaestus lifted himself up from his bed and started walking towards the door, knowing the questions would come soon enough as he continued his tale of where he had been all these years.

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**(A/N) Well there's that, finally! I know it's probably been the longest wait between chapters but you knew this was coming. I'm in Florida now! WOOO! During the drive down I sort of 'refined' the plot a bit more, which can never hurt. I regret putting something in the previous chapter, so (only if y'all are okay) with it I might change it so it's more emotional in the long run while short term it's like "Dafuq you doing James?". IT concerns Reyna in the previous chapter but don't worry, if I change it...this is still me Leyna but it will make the story that much more emotional. If no one voices their opinions on me changing a paragraph or two in the previous chapter, I'll do it anyways and let y'all know when I do. If people don't want me to, I'll add what I would've put in that chapter and what would've followed after I finish the story. So sorry again about the wait, but had to deal with move, got settled, and been feeling 'down' more so than usual. I reached possibly the lowest point this past week, so much stuff has piled up and up while I've been trying to ignore it or keep distracted but it all came crashing down. ANYWAYS. Thanks again for reading and all that jazz. I wanted to try and deviate a bit from the story telling, thought they needed a break anyways, to kind of show how the Voice inside Leo is torturing him in his sleep. It's sort of like Sam and Lucifer from "Supernatural", that's where I got the idea, where Lucifer is merely in Sam's head but causes him to lose sleep to the point where he might die and starts hallucinating. If you haven't seen "Supernatural", go and watch them all on Netflix or what the heck, go and buy all the seasons from a store! They are insanely good! Sorry, off track. Also, I've been working on a subreddit for a bit. It's a roleplaying sub of the PJO universe and I've been refining the current and next plots _really_ well. Though mainly next one, the current one is basically set. You should all check it out if you want, we're all really nice and have fun! A link will be at the end of this A/N. Well, seems I have forgotten what I wanted to put here again, as always, so I guess it's on to reviews! Hope this chapter, which I made exceptionally longer for y'all, is up to the standards you have set for me. **

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**Hello and welcome to Reviewer Responding! Where I respond to your stuff and the points don't matter! That's right, the points don't matter...just like the first four questions on "Millionaire"; they just don't matter. **

**Tazmaster: Thanks, that really means the world to me. This is my first actual story and it really makes me love everyone more when I see stuff like this. Also, I never forget to update. I just end up having to deal with stuff that is slightly more important; sorry 'bout that by the way. I actually didn't work that hard on the prophecy, just wrote the first thing that came to mind when I decided to make one then I just made sure it was same syllable thing (I don't know poetry, ok?) and rhymed a bit while making it vague but actually telling you what will happen...maybe. (Mwa ha ha). +.09 points for the nice words that helped me already today and that name that makes me think of the Tasmanian Devil's owner. (Taz's Master, hur hur hur).**

**Bridget: First off, nice Journey reference. Love them. Next, thanks! I spend the most time trying to make sure Leo is "In character" so it seems that much more 'realistic' I guess. I'm not sure my prophecy is all that great compared to other people's, there are some way better writers on here, but I'll take the compliment nonetheless! +184 points for actually having a normal name on here.**

**MyNameIsNot: is probably one of my favorite things ever, I try and reference it a ton during my day (which is hard as I make a ton of references throughout my day). Thanks for understanding and being an amazing reader. I ask people review only if they want to in support of me writing this, the more I get the faster I work but I work anyways so whatever. That's what I want to change now actually, I've got a really good thing in my head concerning Reyna in the previous chapter and I might change it if you guys don't care. Thank you so much for the review! -489 points for being one of the reasons I came up with something else for the prev. chapter and for having a name that is Not...after my prev. review about names xD.  
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**SilverLightningDemigod: I'm not sure how this POV would go over with regular readers, but that is the highest of compliments and I am learning to accept them still so I accept this gingerly. Thank you kind stranger made of lightning. +0 points for being made of lightning and saying Rick should use this. 3**

**Angel of Darkness Will Get You: If it came across as me trying to pick up a girl on here...sorry. I use a ton of sarcasm so if that made you uncomfortable or whatever, I'll smack my face a few times. I try not to be sexist towards angels of darkness anyhow, I believe they can be any sex if they wanted to because this is 'Murica. Land of the "Free" (depends on what you call free)! Say that in a MLK jr. voice for the full effect. The primordial gods _may_ be the source, mwa ha ha, glad you couldn't wait for this chapter and liked my other ones. +9999 points for putting up with my crap and for being amahzang.**

**amasongrain: First off, technically you only got 1 point last chapter (I added a negative 1 to your review, ha). Next, you should probably consider taking pills that calm you down because that review was crazy/fantastic! Only kidding on the pills thing, just so ya know. Anyways, thanks for support! Thanks for reading all the way! And never trust people on commercials fully, they only speak lies. I try to finish a 'part' while leading to the next, honestly I am not a fan of cliffhangers but I try to add small ones at the end so people are satisfied but they want more. + 50 points for being hyper, amazing, a type of grain, and for having a review that was really fun/funny to read!**

**BuzzBeeMags: Reading your reviews seriously made me laugh so hard. Thanks so much, I'm not entirely sure what a "whump fanfic" is but I'm glad you think my first chapter is the best one around. You're welcome for the hardcore feels early on, mwa ha ha. Now there are 9 Chapters! WOOO! +7 points for teh seventh wheel, making me honestly lol at your reviews, and for being awesome.**

**The Librarian: Your reviews worry me, they really do. I feel like your this super strict person looking over my work xD. No offense or anything! Sorry about the wait, but I explained why above so read that if you haven't already. This is also in the future of the future (the future of the HOO series end) so Leo has sort of 'come to terms' with his mom dying but still blames himself a bit. In that situation I don't think he would have exploded into mad feels, though I'm sure he would have in any other situation. Double posts are fine, I slacked off on getting to moderate reviews for guests on here so whatever. And the time is coming where the confrontation happens, where Leo blows up and his friends understand...finally. I hinted at why it hasn't happened yet a bit in here. +100000000 points because with a name like "The Librarian" I can't help but feel nervous when you review xD so take all the points I have! Also you're awesome and love that you review in the first place, thanks for reading!**

**Guest: Nice original name, first off. Second, please don't cry! I'm having a hard time understanding how emotional this story might be to some people, because I wrote it and this is basically my heart and soul so it's just sort of...'there' for me. Though I'm glad you love the story, but I'm also still not sure if crying during this is good or bad...thanks for the support. Probably one of the best Guest reviews ever, it means a lot. Thanks you kind stranger! + 79 points for being named Guest (original), for crying because I don't want people to cry, and for having one of the nicest reviews ever!**

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**Thank you all so much for everything in support of this story, this chapter gave me a bit of feels when I was writing that nightmare. Feel free to review and sorry if I offended anyone with my reviewer responding, I've got a wide range of humor but mainly sarcasm. I never intend to hurt anyone's feelings or put them down, only myself xD. I love all yo faces so freakin much. Don't you dare forget to be awesome! I'll try and get to work on the next chapter ASAP!**

**Percy Jackson Roleplaying Subreddit: r/PercyJacksonRP**


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